The Undeveloped Story
by FerrisBuellerLovesMe
Summary: Years after Hogwarts, they fell in love just like Blaise and Luna. He’d do anything for her and she was willing to be his everything. Sometimes a little bit of who you aren’t is exactly what you need. DMGW BZLL
1. A Whisper & A Clamor

**THE UNDEVELOPED STORY**

((So I'm trying another new story. I hope you like it. It doesn't follow everything in the books, but it does as well. It's a new idea so if anyone wants to help me develop it, I'm up for ideas. Blaise/Luna and we'll who else ends up together later on, because they will. PS, I like the band Anberlin.))

**1. A Whisper & A Clamor**

_For most of men believe hell is never knowing who they are now  
Finally saved from the outside trapped in what you know  
Are you safe from yourself? Can you escape all by yourself?_

Idiot Draco Malfoy. He was always pulling crap like this. Why? Blaise would never know. All throughout Hogwarts Draco was always thinking up stupid ideas, but this had to be one of the worst. Letting the Ministry of Magic just go through his house for no good reason?

Exactly, Draco had to have lost his mind, Blaise decided, as he watched Ministry members traipse through as if they now owned the Malfoy Manor. Well, they did, in a sense. This morning they had shown up with a warrant. Draco just shrugged and opened up his doors to them, as if he had nothing to hide.

Nothing to hide? Everything within the manor was associated with the Dark Arts. The kitchen has less food in it than potions and you did not want to know what was down in the basement. Blaise always told Draco to clean out the house, have fucking garage sale now that the Malfoy Manor was his since his parents had passed on. However, Draco refused and kept things, as they were, always the optimist that he wouldn't be caught. And yet there had to be over twenty people scanning the house for Dark Arts paraphernalia.

This was like a scene out of _Law & Order_, minus the old ugly detectives.

Oh wait, here they were.

"Zabini, what the hell are you doing here? No one is allowed to be in here without Ministry approval," Ron Weasley charged into the room, obviously upset. Blaise could be hiding things, hexing things, who knows what. Actually he had came over straight after work when he heard that Draco had allowed his house to be searched, but the Slytherin Alum was nowhere in sight. Bloody bastard.

"Same reason you follow Potter around: moral support," Blaise said simply, leaning against the Malfoy's white piano.

Weasley looked ready to slug him.

"Well isn't this the little Hogwarts reunion?" Blaise grinned before checking his pocket watch. Where was that blonde bastard anyways? Shouldn't he be watching as these dirty mudbloods rooted through his things? Because maybe even if Draco didn't kill Lovegood, there was a lot of shit he could get charged for.

"We're searching your house next you know," Potter smirked, "accessory to the murder of Luna Lovegood. We're putting you and your Death Eater friends in Azkaban, Zabini. One by one if we have to."

Oh what a load of elfshit! Blaise rolled his eyes; this was _so _an episode of Law & Order. They _wished _they knew what they were talking about. Death Eater this and Death Eater that. It's not like Voldermort was dead or anything. Oh wait, he was, Harry Potter killed him during Blaise's seventh year at Hogwarts. So then why were they being accused of working for him still? Like he thought- load of elfshit!

The death of Luna Lovegood could not be pinned on him or Draco. She disappeared one night and her body appeared three nights later, dragged through the mud until you could barely recognize her. There had been warning of the attack to the Ministry, that Dumbledore was dead, and now his army would find the same fate, but did the Ministry listen? No, they just scoffed thinking it was another empty threat. Well now Luna Lovergood was dead and the Ministry was blaming the two most popular Death Eaters in Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

Which was preposterous. Blaise would have started ranting to Potter about how if it weren't for Narcissa Malfoy he would have never found his way into Hogwarts that fateful night, but the clip of woman's heels were entering the room. Instead he gave Potter his best glare as Ginny Weasley walked around the corner biting her lip with something important to say.

"Ginerva Weasley! When did you get glasses?" Blaise gushed and clapped his hands together like their gay friend Tracey Davis always did. "I'm impressed you resisted the urge to purchase matching frames as your lover," Blaise continued, batting his eyelashes like a girl. She had truly grown up, her curves fit her nicely, making Blaise think of chocolate desserts with strawberry icing. However, she did not smile at Blaise's antics, as she once would have done. Instead she gave him a nasty glare and walked straight to Harry. Blaise didn't mind her reaction, it was to be expected when her best friend was the one dead here.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but you can't accuse him of anything just yet," Ginny frowned. She wanted Blaise behind bars more than Harry did, but for reasons having nothing to do with Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix members. "The warrant only asked for Draco's wand," Ginny continued, "You have to call off the search of his manor and return anything you may have found."

Ginny had gotten a job as a secretary in the Department of Law at the Ministry of Magic the first year out of Hogwarts. Blaise wondered briefly if Potter had any say in that choice of employment. She was supposed to go play Quiddtich, but something seemed to have changed her mind. No matter, Blaise thought, she looked much cuter in a pencil skirt than Quidditch robes.

"He opened his doors to use Gin, we can search whatever we want," Potter explained to her as if she were a child and seemed as if he was about to pat the girl on the top of the head. They had been like this all through out Hogwarts, and then Harry broke her heart. You would think that would make the girl say no a second time, but she didn't. Blaise would never understand why.

"Without written or verbal consent, Malfoy can sue both you and the Ministry for trespassing so I suggest you leave and any evidence you find will be thrown out at trial," Ginny instructed him. She was obviously wearing the pants in this relationship.

"Yeah Potter, leave before I act as a witness to your digressions," Blaise smirked.

Harry looked between Blaise and Ginny, glaring at both of them. He was so close and she was taking _Malfoy's _side? It was disgusting to say the least. Who cared about the rules when you could do something right in the world! It's notlike Harry always did the right thing to get to the final battle, but he did accomplish something no one else could. He was a hero to the world, why couldn't he be a hero to Luna and capture her obvious killers?

Harry let out a disgusted breath and stalked out of the room, starting to yell orders at the other aurors to pack up and leave. Ron followed glaring Blaise down, as if still ready to slug him, but finally ran off as well. Serves them right, Blaise smirked. He was in the clear.

That is until Ginny smacked him.

His chocolate skin bronzed from the heat of her hand.

"Sweet Salazar Gin! What the bloody hell was that for!" he swore at her, clasping his hand to his cheek. Great Merlin he forgot she could hit so hard!

"You know exactly what that was for Zabini," she hissed at him so Harry could not hear. She was using his last name now? When he saw her two weeks ago she had been all sorts of splendid. However, two weeks ago her best friend had not been dead. "Luna's dead and you're walking around like you have some stick up your ass-"

"I always walk around like I've had some stick up my ass," Blaise interrupted. Ginny raised her hand threateningly and pursed his lips together; his cheek was still stinging from her slap.

"Luna Lovegood was my best friend, she meant the world to me. I loved her like a sister and you- and you," Ginny took a deep breath trying not to break out into tears once again. Up close and in his face, Blaise was able to tell that she was wearing glasses because her eyes were too tired to wear contacts, that she had been crying herself to sleep every night, and completely devastated by the death of her best friend. Ginny took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes, "and you loved her too!"

Blaise pursed his lips together and looked down, away from Ginny's eyes. He knew where this was going now and as much as he wanted to say something, he couldn't.

"Did you know she told me she thought you were two were soul mates? That you were the only one for her and now-" she was breaking down, tears starting to leak, and Blaise could barely look at her. He really couldn't say anything. She pointed a stern finger in his face and anger took over her sad body, "If I find out that you had anything, _anything_, to do with her death I'll make sure you get the dementors kiss before you can say 'Moon."

Ginny looked at him sternly, her eyes glaring into him like hot pokers, until she couldn't look anymore. He had something to do with this, she just knew it, and much as she hoped that he loved Luna as much as she loved him. Before she did anything stupid, like hit him again, Ginny turned on her heal and stalked out of the now empty Manor, passing Draco Malfoy as he entered. He meant to say hello, but she brushed passed him, bumping his shoulder as she went.

"What was that all about?" Draco asked as he entered, noticing Blaise standing there and aware of Ginny's tears.

Blaise shook his head; he didn't want to deal with it. Instead he glared at Draco.

"Where the fuck have you been!" Blaise unleashed on Draco.

"At your place," Draco said simply, "I've just come to grab a bottle of wine to go along with dinner."

Blaise nodded, "that's right, Luna told me she was going to try to make your mother's old Sheppard's Pie recipe."

Draco laughed, "yeah, right up until the point where she burnt it."


	2. Hello Alone

**2. Hello Alone**

_Is this where the interstate ends?_

_In coastal towns like this_

_Waiting for my world to cave under_

_We seem to invent ourselves_

_In places left unknown_

_If hope could only find me out_****

Going home was always a difficult time for Ginny. Home no longer was the Burrow, but a small apartment in the middle of London, close to the Ministry of Magic, that she shared with Harry. They had been dating on and off for almost five years so it made sense that they move in together, since they were, you know, in love.

Ugh, Ginny didn't even want to think about the word. How could Blaise Zabini say that he loved Luna Lovegood and then not even show up for the funeral? Sure she knew he hated showing emotion, that the two were keeping the relationship secret except to their closet friends, but she didn't think he was that big of an emotionless bastard to make girls fall in love with just to have a frequent bed buddy.

Though, Ginny was glad to know that Luna never spelt with Blaise; the beautiful blonde always said she was saving herself for marriage. How Luna and Blaise dated for almost two years, no fights, no on and off lifestyle, and no sex, Ginny had no idea.

Actually she did; she and Harry never had sex anymore.

Great Merlin where had the passion gone? The fun, the flair, the dragon tattooed on his chest and the want to be her only? It was as if he had become obsessed with chasing down the Dark Arts, afraid that something was going to start up again and destroy the world. Well something had started up again and was destroying her world; her best friend was dead and did he even care? Ginny knew Harry wasn't at the Malfoy Manor in order to find Luna's killer. No, once again it was about arresting Malfoy, as if he had never forgiven Malfoy for trying to kill Dumbledore.

If you're wondering, Draco was sorry about that and rather past it as well. Those years back at Hogwarts had been the worst in his life and he was to the point where he was desperate to get attention from his father, from Voldermort, from somebody. He made a public apology years ago. He was a kid with manipulative parents, taught to act a certain way, and full of teenage angst and hormones. He was bound to fuck up in a rather big way.

At least back then he had Pansy Parkinson.

But now? Now Draco had no girl, unless you count Luna Lovegood as she sat on his kitchen counter, swinging her legs back and forth, and eating ice cream out of the carton.

"Draco I'm getting bored," she told him.

"I've noticed," he mumbled back at her. It had been two weeks since Luna had "died" and Draco had become her designated babysitter as Blaise went to work. Draco didn't have a job, couldn't get one, and if he could, he could never keep it. Once again, the whole trying to kill Dumbledore still followed him around four years later and its not like Draco had the best temper either.

"I never get bored with Blaise," she announced. Draco snorted; he didn't doubt it. Luna may still hold her virgin card tight, but he knew that didn't stop the lovebirds from having fun. Boys do talk you know, just not about the cute drama of buying shoes to match their dresses.

"Can't we go to the zoo or maybe a muggle movie? No one would notice me there," Luna begged.

"You really think I'd fair well at the zoo?" Draco raised an eyebrow at her as he grabbed a spoon and started eating out of the carton as well.

"If we put on loads of SPF," she grinned.

"What's that?" SPF? Spell protection foundation? Saint Potter's fishing? Silly perverted fantasies?

Oh wait he liked that one.

"I dunno, something muggles put on their skin so they don't burn," she shrugged.

"I don't think so love, you're lucky Blaise lets you even visit over here," Draco tapped her on the nose with his spoon. Luna was like his little sister by now and he had no qualms about her being toted just about everywhere with them. It had taken awhile to convince Blaise to let Luna to come over, but with the underground tunnel between their manors its not as if anyone saw her even cross the street. No Blaise was just upset Potter would show up trying search the manor again and there would be Luna, sitting on Draco's counter, not dead whatsoever.

Luna pouted out her bottom lip.

"What if I drink a polyjuice potion? I could be Blaise!" she gasped with sudden glee, her legs kicking about like a puppies tail.

"We can't do that because 1. Blaise doesn't have any hair and 2. You smile way too much for anyone to fall for it," Draco chuckled. Luna, though upset, had already lost her pout and was smiling widely at the prospect of going outside.

"He has some hair," Luna smiled wickedly.

"Luna!" Draco gasped.

She broke out into wild giggles as Draco gagged at the thought. God Blaise had dirtied her pure little mind up real good hadn't he? She was barely even the same Luna she was when they started dating.

"If you can't have fun then life isn't worth living," Luna shoved him to stop the gagging.

"Yeah but you're supposed to be dead," Draco reminded her. She waved him off.

"If death meant just leaving the stage long enough for a costume change and coming back as a new character, would you slow down? Or speed up?" Luna looked at him with her big blue moon eyes. Ah, there was the Looney Lovegood they all knew and loved. Though he hated when she was right. He had slowed down after Hogwarts, but where did that get him? Alone and bored.

"Fine," Draco groaned, "but you better wear a large sunhat and sunglasses just in case."

The large sunhat and glasses did not do any good, however. Actually they were spectacular and no one knew that it was Luna Lovegood, the girl from all the papers, muggle or wizarding, but Blaise wasn't thrilled about the whole idea. Here he was, going to work so he wouldn't look suspicious of anything and Luna was skipping around muggle London like nothing was wrong at all. They couldn't skip the country because then the Ministry would think Blaise murdered her, so here he was slaving away. Blaise was livid with Draco, to the say the least.

"I can't believe you gave in to her like that!" Blaise wished he had hair to pull at, though he had a feeling it would feel pretty fucking good to give Draco's hair a good yank right now, "what if someone saw you! What if they reported her to the muggles news and they sent the pop-lace after you?"

"Well she got all, you know, Looney, and her eyes got all big and puffy and you know how deadly that look is!" Draco whined as he watched Blaise pace around the living room. Blaise had shot him a look at Draco; he still was not fond of her school nickname 'Looney.'

"I don't care if she offered herself to you, you're not allowed to let her out of the house," Blaise warned Draco.

Draco blinked. "You really think she would sleep with me?"

Blaise's glare was enough of an answer.

"Merlin I was only kidding," Draco groaned and plopped over on the couch. He was much more animated now that he no longer had to live up to anyone's expectations and was stuck in the house all day with nothing to do. He greatly sympathized with Luna's house arrest, more than you know. "What crawled up your ass this afternoon anyways?"

"Ginny Weasley," Blaise answered simple.

"Blaise you sly dog!" Draco laughed loudly; Blaise glared once again. "Okay, sorry, my bad, over the line. Luna's best friend. In love with Luna, I get it," Draco folded easily.

He knew how Blaise was all about the no cheating on girls rule; Blaise's father had run off with his nanny when he was younger therefore making Blaise one of the most faithful men to ever graduate Hogwarts. Besides the part where he fucked everything that moved. But that wasn't being unfaithful, according to Blaise, since he was never actually dating those tramps. No Blaise still held fast to the notion that Luna was his first and only girlfriend.

"So why was she bothering you?" Draco changed the subject back to what was upsetting his Blaisey-poo.

"Asking about you," Blaise smirked. Draco didn't make a move to say anything, so he continued. "Potter's still trying to convict you of Luna's murder; Ginny's his little office whore, running around departments to collect information, especially about what you've been doing since you've graduated Hogwarts."

"Did you tell her I finished a ten thousand piece jigsaw puzzle? I have to say that's been my greatest achievement yet," Draco deadpanned.

"The one with the kitten on it? No, I didn't," Blaise shot back with the same amount of sarcasm. "I told her you've been a good boy, haven't done anything stupid that I'm aware of."

"That girl from the Deja Voo Stripclub was pretty stupid," Draco pointed out, not wanting to look as if he had been, gasp, an angel.

"Merlin don't remind me, she almost took my head off with her shoe when I yelled at her to leave," Blaise rolled his eyes.

"No, you've got her mixed with Parkinson," Draco corrected.

"Same difference," Blaise shrugged, "anyways, the point it, Potter's trying to create a character profile against you. He can't find evidence that you killed Luna, obviously, but he's willing to discredit you enough that they charge you anyways."

"Brilliant," Draco shook his head; why must his life be difficult? All he was doing was trying to lead a normal, healthy life and look at him! He was skinner than your average super model, his body lean and beautiful with pale white skin that reflected his shaggy, untamed locks that he let loose around his face, to hide his silver Malfoy eyes.

"So how long before I'm in Azkaban?" Draco asked after a long silence.

"Not sure, he doesn't have much on you, but its not like you're the Ministry's favorite person either," Blaise bit his lip and looked to his friend. "I'd give it two weeks, depending in what they can find."

Draco nodded silently. So this was it, off to Azkaban finally, just like his father.

Blaise tried to give him a smile, "I'll tell you one thing though."

Draco hummed in acknowledgement that he was listening.

"Ginny Weasley thinks you're innocent."


	3. Readyfuels

**3. Readyfuels**

_We're running, We're running hot tonight and it feels so good_

_Your arm in mine, here, near midnight and it feels so right_

_Girls and the boys chase down running hot tonight_

_Can you wait for me a little, little longer?_

_Can you wait for me a little longer?_

Ginny Weasley thought he was innocent.

Well, fat lot of good that did because exactly ten days after Blaise had mentioned the potential of Draco being sent to Azkaban, Draco Malfoy was in court.

Four days later he was escorted to Azkaban prison and assigned his own lovely cell, guilty of the murder of Luna Love good and the attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore. Great fucking Merlin, he said he was sorry about that!

Why did Blaise always have to be right? Two weeks on the dot, goddamn it. The bastard. Blaise was so not getting a Christmas gift because of this now. Draco would not be on talking terms with Blaise, but the whole locked up in Azkaban kind of made that difficult.

Oh, but Draco had nothing to worry about, Luna had decided that she was not going to speak to Blaise now that he took away her only friend. Blaise, of course, found this neither fair nor funny.

"Luna, love, I told you, it's not my fault Draco was convicted. I went on trial, I did my best to convince them that Draco was innocent," Blaise pleaded with her as she stomped around his large kitchen, cleaning. Luna never cleaned, but that's how bored she had become.

"Well you didn't try hard enough," she pouted and began scrubbing the sink for the third time this morning. How come Luna was more upset about _his_ best friend in Azkaban than he was? "What if he dies in there!" She sniffed, the tears starting to leak, and Blaise got up from his barstool to walk over to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I highly doubt he's going to die in there, dove," Blaise spoke softly into her neck. Draco had only been sent to Azkaban this morning so Blaise wasn't too worried about Draco's sanity just yet. Though Luna's he wasn't so sure. Leaving her in the house all day was getting deadly, but he had to go to work. If he called in sick, there would be suspicions of him trying to run, knowing he'd be next. Oh yes, Blaise knew that the Ministry was now coming after him and he had a little more evidence of Luna around his home than Draco did.

"You have to get him out," she sobbed in his chest, "and-and when he's out, he needs a girlfriend!" She broke out into hysteric sobbing. Draco needed a girlfriend? Blaise raised an eyebrow, but hugged Luna to his body anyways.

"You do remember you're talking about Draco here love? He doesn't do girlfriends. Sometimes I doubt his ability to love even," Blaise slightly teased her.

Luna looked up at him through bloodshot eyes, "you used to say you'd never fall in love and look where we are."

"With a dead girl in my arms?" he teased her again.

She glared at him, "you better shut up and kiss me or I'm going back to giving you the silent treatment."

Blaise chuckled and leaned down, kissing her softly. However, when he pulled away she was pouting again. Christ, he had no idea how he put up with this woman's emotions, but then again they made up for the lack of his own.

"What's wrong now?" he sighed.

"How do you think Draco is doing?"

"Its only been an hour love, I'm sure he's fine," he reassured her and hoped that he was right.

Blaise was right. In the cell, Draco was fine. He laid down and closed his eyes when he got there; no big deal. The dementors didn't really get on his nerves, he was used to being cold from being so skinny and they couldn't suck anything happy, because he seriously lacked those memories.

However, on hour two a guard came to his cell door and told him he had a visitor. Blaise? Already? Draco had figured that Blaise wouldn't visit at least for a few days, as if not to look shifty and in cahoots. Draco didn't mind though as he got up and followed the guard to the visiting room. However, the person in there was not his asshole best friend at all. Thanks Blaise, thanks for being a wonderful friend.

Not to mention the person in there was bound to be a pain in Draco's ass. Sweet Salazar, he had been so content and now he had to deal with "Ginny Weasley, what in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

Ginny smiled slightly, "What Malfoy? Think I'm too fragile to show up in Azkaban?"

Draco smirked as he sat down; Ginny always had a fire that he liked. They were not what you would call friends, but there had a been a few times that Ginny had joined he, Blaise, and Luna for dinner or on another type of outing. Keeping Blaise and Luna's relationship on the down low was not the easiest job; therefore they sometimes needed friends to tag along. Draco never minded, obviously if was allowing Luna to stay at his house as they pretended that she was dead.

Draco looked at Ginny, "you? Fragile? I'm more scared of you than the dementors. Then again, your lips look much more kissable."

Ginny raised an eyebrow, "is that really how you want to be talking to the girl who is going to get you out of Azkaban?"

Draco, once again, looked at her if she was insane. Ginny Weasley, albeit a fun girl to hang around, did not have much say in the wizarding world, unless she were to go through her boyfriend- and we all know that her boyfriend was not about to fight for Draco's innocence. She seemed to let the men walk all over her at the Ministry. How this change from vibrant fighter to meek secretary happened, Draco had no idea, but if he could pin it on something, he would have to say boredom, lack of passion, too much routine, or not enough life.

"And how do you expect to do that?" Draco questioned. Yes, he didn't think it was possible, but he was interested.

"Prove your innocence," Ginny said simply.

"Go on…" he said skeptically.

"The Ministry received another note two days ago, while you were at trial; they excused it, saying it was from your partner," Ginny rolled her eyes, "but it's targeting more people that were part of the Army. Specifically ones that currently work at Hogwarts."

"So you think whoever is sending these letters is the person that killed Luna?" Draco asked. She was wrong, of course, since no one had killed Luna, but it was fun to ask nonetheless.

"Exactly, and I don't think it's Blaise either," Ginny smiled.

"I don't know. He could have done it. He hates admitting that he loves her, you know. Maybe all that sexual frustration built up and he finally couldn't take it anymore," he teased her. Ginny rolled her eyes. She remembered Luna bouncing around telling Blaise that he loved her and him refusing to believe it. That was the first months of their relationship, but Ginny knew Blaise loved her. At least she hoped he did.

"Draco," she chastised him, "stop. He loved her, there was passion there, and you can't deny that."

"There was passion in you once too, but now I have trouble finding it," Draco pointed out.

"Well things change and you have to change with them," Ginny shrugged and tucked her hair behind her ear. She was so soft, so sensitive; Draco decided then he was not going to give her an easy time until she started fighting back. It was just going to get worse and if she cried, so be it. He wanted fire.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Draco reminded her; Ginny squinted- he reminded her of Luna.

"So what are you saying, that I should throw my whole life away because I'm unhappy?"

"Are you?" Draco asked, "unhappy that is?"

Ginny stared at him for a moment then sighed frustrated; how was Draco Malfoy getting into her head right now? She was the one with the steady life, with the family and friends around her. She should be happy, she should love life, but why was she frowning when Draco Malfoy, the boy in Azkaban, was smiling?

"Do you want my help or not Malfoy?" she said harshly, which only made Draco grin more; there was her fire, all it needed was a little more fuel.

"Yes, I do," Draco told her, getting down to business. He figured he might as well tell her what he knew, or some of it at least, "but you have to know, if there is any hint that Blaise and I have had any part in Luna's death, that you either disregard it or put it towards trying to save her. Luna is like my sister, I would never want her dead."

Ginny stared at him; why was Draco speaking in present tense? She nodded slowly and he continued.

"Even though Voldermort has passed, that does not mean the Dark Arts are dead. In fact, they are some of the best forms of self-protection and defense. However, there is an upcoming witch that has decided it best to use them on the offense once again. She's nowhere near as powerful as Voldermort, yet, but she is playing dirty, starting at the bottom and killing up. They call her Lilith," Draco explained.

Voldermort started at the top. He knew that Harry Potter was his downfall and he focused on killing him first. However, the littler people had risen up and fought along side Potter. What would have happened if Potter had no help in the final battle? If Neville and Luna, Fred, George, and Bill had backed away and stayed home, would Potter have lived? Would he have won? Or would they all be under Voldermort's command this very moment?

"How come the Ministry doesn't know about this? Harry thinks its you just wanting revenge for having an awful childhood!" Ginny whined.

Draco laughed. "Revenge for my childhood? I deserved what I got. Well, most of it anyways. I was a complete prick back then."

"You still are," Ginny deadpanned; Draco chuckled and took no offense.

"No one believed Dumbledore when he saw Tom Riddle acting out; no one wants to believe that there is someone out there again, plotting to take over the wizarding world," Draco explained. Ginny was impressed by how much he knew, how much he knew and had not said a word of it while on trial.

"So Luna was Lilith's first target among Dumbledore's Army?" Ginny asked.

"Except she messed with the wrong girl," Draco said.

"With the wrong girl? What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked Draco, suddenly confused. Draco's face blanched. Oops, said too much. He looked over to the guard and nodded that it was time to go.

"Really Ginerva, do you think that Blaise and I would just let Luna be murdered without putting up a fight?" Draco asked as he stood up for the guard to replace the handcuffs. Ginny's mouth was gaping; yes she thought Draco was innocent, but to have put up a fight? Her mind exploded into a million questions, but he was leaving, walking out.

"Draco! Draco Malfoy, you come back here and explain yourself! You better tell me everything you know right now or I'll make sure you never get out of Azkaban, do you understand me!" she yelled after him, but as Draco passed the window, all he did was wink at her.


	4. The Unwinding Cable Car

**((**Thanks everyone for the reviews and the readings, I'm glad you all see to like this story and where it is going. Some of you are a little confused, but Luna is alive only because she is hiding in order to stay alive. Faking her death was the only clear protection the boys could think up at the time; this of it like witness protection. Ginny and Draco will develop more, even in this chapter, so don't worry about that. Haha, funny story, I don't really know where this story is going yet, so it truly is undeveloped, but I'm glad you're all on it for the ride. Thank you again and I hope you all keep reading and reviewing.

Ps. I wrote a cute little one shot called _Fanfiction Dot Net _that I recommend you all check out because I've had positive feedback and I still laugh when I read through it. **))**

**4. The Unwinding Cable Car**

_Backing away from the problem of pain you never had a home_

_You've been misguided; you're hiding in shadows for so very long_

_Don't you believe that you've been deceived that you're no better than…_

_The hair in your eyes, it never disguised what you're really thinking of_

Ginny Weasley never really understood Harry's hatred of Draco in the years that followed Hogwarts. Yes he had attempted to kill Dumbledore, yes he had been a Death Eater, yes he had tried to stop Harry from winning the war, but it was obvious as the Malfoy family sat in the Great Hall after the battle that they were trapped into a life they didn't want, Draco especially. And when Daco made a public apology one year later, Ginny knew that Draco never believed in what he was fighting for; he just did it because he had to in order to survive.

However, Harry refused to see it that way. He had become obsessed with getting Draco into Azkaban and he had finally succeeded. Nothing could get Harry down now, that is, until he heard around the office that his girlfriend had been visiting Malfoy on a daily basis, trying to prove his innocence.

"Ginny, can I speak with you for a moment?" Harry asked as he passed her desk outside his office and motioned for her to follow him inside. Ginny sighed, but followed him and shut the door behind her.

"What's up Harry?" she smiled.

He sat down in the chair behind his desk and stared at her behind his wired framed glasses. She felt this more a business meeting than a boyfriend speaking to his girlfriend. Luna used to tell Ginny if you had to work at a love, then it was work, not love. Ginny had never listened, but now she was beginning to think Luna was right. She was working too hard for nothing in return.

"There has been some talk around the office that you have been visiting Malfoy in Azkaban," he said so formally that she wanted to throw something at him. She understood he was her boss, but in the privacy of his own office he could talk to her a little better than a small child.

Ginny decided not to answer him; what was it to him if she visited Draco or not? Obviously he wasn't jealous.

"If you are I suggest you stop, now," Harry said sternly. Ginny almost rolled her eyes; she couldn't believe she had jut taken this for the past year, thinking it was just a phase that he would get over soon enough. "Draco Malfoy has been convicted of murder and you're putting yourself in danger of being his and his accomplices next victim."

"His accomplices? You mean Blaise Zabini?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Him among others; we have found eyewitnesses that can testify to his close friendship to Malfoy," Harry explained.

Ginny couldn't help it as she burst out into laugher. "You have evidence that they are friends? Wow, Blaise must have had something to do with it then, cause you know, being friends obviously means they are in cahoots."

"Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini are both self identified Death Eaters and fully supported Voldermort-" Harry started but Ginny interrupted.

"They were _made_ to support Voldermort Harry! It's been three years don't you get it already? They had to make the choice to follow or die."

"Then they should have chosen to die!" Harry roared.

Ginny stared at him in shock. How dare he say such a thing? He was given the choice to die millions of times, but he always fought on, struggling for his life. Her very own brother had lost his life for the cause and now Luna was gone too, should they have just asked to die when they were confronted with Voldermort? Should they have laid down their wands and let life be taken from their bodies?

"No one should chose to die Harry, no one should ever have to make that choice at all. You made it so that we can all live in safety, but we aren't safe! There is something out there killing anyone who has ever been close to you and instead of looking for it, you're busy trying to revenge school day mistakes," Ginny yelled back at him.

Harry was a bit stunned at Ginny raised his voice to him; where had that come from?

Draco Malfoy could tell you where it had come from. Every day that Ginny had come to visit him, he pushed her buttons further and further until one day she unleashed and yelled at him for a good fifteen minutes, demanding to know what had happened with Luna. When she was done, Draco just smirked and told her to ask Harry; he should know since he was Head Auror.

"Think about it Harry," Ginny demanded before Harry could respond, "you refuse to look at any leads that don't have anything to do with Death Eaters. There are other powers in this world and if you refuse to see it, then we are in bigger trouble than when Voldermort returned."

Ginny left with that last word. She couldn't take being yelled at for actually doing her job, for trying to get information out of Draco about the real killer. True it was easier to squeeze water out of a rock than information out of Draco, but at least he told her things every now and then when he felt like it. He refused to answer her questions about Luna's actual murder, but he would give her clues.

Grabbing her purse and a large file of paperwork, Ginny stormed from the office and into the elevators. As the doors closed she noticed Harry watching her from his office door, but she had nothing more to say to him. Actually she had one thing, but she'd save it for later. Public break ups were so cliche.

When Draco was told that Ginny was waiting for him in the visitor room this time, he was no longer surprised. However, he was surprised to see her there with a glare set upon her features and this smoldering venom in her eyes. He was slightly worried, but at the same time he couldn't help thinking that it was somewhat sexy as well.

"Good evening Ginny" he smirked classically as he sat down across from her. Instead of returning his pleasantry, she slammed the large file down on the desk between them.

"I have gone through all the Ministry's files of the most recent attacks, including the current muggle war in Iraq, and not one of them mentions anything about a woman named Lilith," Ginny got straight to business.

Draco looked at her quizzically before slowly reaching out and taking the papers; she allowed him to look, positive he wouldn't find anything. Yet he surprised her by pulling out a sheet and sliding it her way. He did it with five more papers.

"Put them in order chronologically then tell me where they are all located," Draco instructed.

Ginny looked at him quizzically, but did as she was told, soon listing off, "London, Ipswich, Liverpool, Isle of Wright, Truro, and Hereford."

"Which spell out?"

"Lilith," Ginny whispered. Great Merlin, she was responsible for all these murders? Draco nodded as if he read her mind.

"There are more, but those were her first six; after that they are bit more sporadic," Draco explained, setting out two more papers that seemed have nothing to do with each other.

"How do you know she's behind these?" Ginny asked and he smirked.

When didn't he smirk? He always had to have the sexy smile on his lips, didn't he? Ginny thought to herself, but realized her cheeks had heated just at the thought; she should not be having these thoughts about Draco.

"Each victim has a lightening bolt scar on their forehead," Draco told her then chuckled slightly, "you'd think that'd catch your boyfriends attention, but I suppose not. Then again, maybe he just thinks that's my way of mocking him."

Ginny shook her head, "no, he doesn't read the reports anymore. Just arrests the suspects."

Draco chuckled, "always a do first think later type of bloke wasn't he?"

"I suppose," Ginny shrugged, collecting the papers. She was so concerned about all these murders that Harry didn't even think were magic related that she forgot who she was talking to and told Draco, "that's why I fell in love with him."

Draco hummed understandingly, "and now? Is that why you still love him?"

Ginny stiffened, realizing the conversation had gone personal. There had been moments of personal life that had drifted into their conversations, but mostly it was Draco explaining things to Ginny. He confided in her that he hated playing Quidditch in school and even told her about the time his mother had gave him a whooping for eating fifteen cookies before dinner. They never got into her personal life though, Ginny made sure of it- until now that is.

"I-," Ginny started nervously, unsure of how to put this because she too now questioned it. She had Harry had grown apart, it was apparent, but she knew they could grow back together if they worked at it. Yet did she wasn't sure how much she wanted to try.

"It's more complicated than that lately," Ginny settled on telling Draco; it's not like he could tell anyone from his cell here.

"It's not love if you have to work at it."

Ginny looked up at Draco in shock, "that's what Luna used to tell me."

"I know," Draco smiled, causing Ginny seriously believe that Draco was innocent more than any of the other information he had supplied her. This knowledge unnerved her more than she liked, causing her to gather her papers from him and stand up.

"I should go home, Harry is probably wondering where I am," Ginny said, rushed and confused at the way her heart was pounding. "I'll see you tomorrow Draco," she gave a quick smile, but realized looking into his eyes caused her stomach to knot in a way it once did when she looked at Harry.

"As always," Draco smiled, but she refused to look at his this time and instead rushed out of the door. Draco chuckled slightly at the mess she made before standing up as the guard came to lead him back to his cell. Fortunately, Draco did not have time to worry about his own knotted stomach or content heart for the dementors swept away all feelings of happiness before he could contemplate their meanings.

Ginny, however, did not have that luxury and as she took the boat from the small prison island to the mainland. The waters rocked about her, but she only felt queasier with her feelings. How had that asshole Malfoy from her Hogwarts days turned into a man that she could consider having true feelings for? Yet by the time she had gotten home by train, Ginny was sure that the feelings had nothing to do with Draco, but how he reminded her of Luna. Oh how she missed her best friend.

It was this notion Ginny settled on as she walked into her flat and hung her coat next to Harry's; he seemed to have beaten her home.

As she walked into the little apartment, a bundle of roses on the kitchen counter caught her off guard. Harry was sitting at the counter and motioned for her to sit with him. Slowly Ginny made her way.

Harry smiled slightly before biting his lip. "I was thinking about what you said today," Harry began and Ginny's heart lifted. He was going to look into Draco's innocence. "I thought that by adding you as my office staff that you would feel included in my life, but, you're right, I am too focused on my work."

Ginny stared at him. That's not what she said at all. She said he was focused on Death Eater's, on Draco Malfoy, their relationship had nothing to do with the conversation.

"And I realized that maybe it was about time-" Harry shifted nervously and took her hands in his. She was so confused about how he had gotten that their talk was about their relationship, she didn't feel something hard pressed into her hand. Yet when he removed his hands there sat a large diamond ring.

"That I ask you to marry me."


	5. Change the World

((Hey guys, I'm pretty far along in writing these. I got a good idea and just kept going so I have at least three more chapters already in the can waiting. So good news for you since you wont have to wait so long for new chapters and I know where this story is going. Kind of. However, since I'm so far ahead, I was thinking about getting a beta. I've been searching around teh site, reading profiles, but when I find one I like they usually say slash only.. which sucks since as gay as Blaise and Draco are together, this is not a slash fic. If anyone has a recomendation, or would like to Beta, please message me or say in the reviews- I read them all!

Thanks and hope you enjoy!))

**5. Change the World**

_We could change the world, we could strike the chord  
We are the lost ones, we are the lost ones  
We could re-write history, if only you and me  
We are the lost ones, we are the lost ones  
And we could change it down  
Don't give yourself away _

Ginny did not come visit Draco the next day, or the next. In fact, she had not seen him for a week by the time she finally made her way to the visiting room one gloomy afternoon. Draco himself was rather gloomy as well, but only because the dementors were finally starting to wear on him, especially without daily visits from friends.

So needless to say, when Draco entered the visiting room, he didn't give her his usual cheery smirk.

Ginny didn't blame him. She too was not smiling at the sight of him, but it was because of another new revelation in hr life. The ring on her finger was a weight and every time she looked at it, she thought of Luna.

When Harry asked her to marry him, Ginny automatically froze. The whole way home she had debated dumping him, yet now here she sat with a ring on her finger, weighing her down like a lead balloon.

"I'm sorry," Ginny whispered, when Draco finally sat in front of her. She made sure to keep her hands underneath the table to hide the scaring diamond from his view.

"You have nothing to apologize for Weasley," Draco said in a solid tone; his emotions seemed to have left him in the week he had been locked away. A week alone in Azkaban started to take away one's soul, whether they were innocent or not.

"Yes I do, I should have come to visit you, but I've been very busy lately," she seemed to plead with him. Draco noticed. He also noticed that she was on the brink of tears. This seemed to pull any emotions he had left to the front as he gave a slight frown at her attitude.

"Ginny, love, what's wrong," his tone softened as it would whenever Luna had come to him with a problem.

"I've been trying my hardest, but I can't find her, I can't figure out who is following her, nothing and yet there are more and more deaths than before; Neville Longbottom was killed just last night," she explained.

As much as this information bothered Draco, he had a feeling Ginny's tears had nothing to do with Lilith or her friend's recent death. However, he nodded as if he wasn't worried about her at all.

"Longbottom was murdered last night?" Draco asked and Ginny nodded. Draco bit his lip; well Longbottom would have been the Hogwarts professor that the note was about. Maybe that would make the Ministry see that they need to take these terrorist notes more cautiously. Or maybe that meant that Blaise would be joining him in Azkaban shortly.

"He was found out by the lake, it seems like someone had been waiting int eh woods then attacked him. He had a lightening bolt scar like you said too," Ginny explained, "Harry's first assumption was Blaise, but I was able confirm his alibi before the Ministry could try to take him to trail just based of his former actions."

Draco smiled; at least he wouldn't have to worry about sharing a cell with Blaise now.

"And what was Blaise doing last night?" Draco asked, curiously.

Ginny giggled, "He was at the muggle zoo. There is a videotape of him at the Penguin exhibit. How funny is that?"

"Hilarious," Draco chuckled. So Luna finally convinced Blaise to take her out of the house, huh? Penguins were Luna's favorite so Draco thought it funny that Ginny even notice a blonde woman on the tape as well.

"But I mean, that still doesn't lead us any closer to who Lilith is or who her supporters are," Ginny muttered as she started shuffling through a file of papers.

Draco didn't know how to answer this. That's why he and Blaise had Luna fake her death. Going to the Ministry for help was impossible because they would never believe two former Death Eaters and going to other former Death Eater's could be leading her straight into Lilith's hands. There was no saying who was on what side this time because no one was willing to investigate further. No one except a man in Azkaban named Draco Malfoy, a office secretary named Ginny Weasley, and reclusive asshole named Blaise Zabini. Luna could be considered in this lot too, but like Draco and Blaise enjoyed teasing her, she was dead.

"All Blaise and I could discover were they are both good and bad. They are former Death Eater's who want a pureblood nation and they are Ministry workers who think the government has become too liberal. So far we haven't been able to figure out who, except for the few spies who informed us about Luna," Draco explained.

"Spies, you have spies?"

Draco nodded, "Theodore Nott and Hannah Abbott are the two I'm aware about. I'm sure Blaise had found more."

"Nott and Hannah? Together?" Ginny was flabbergasted.

"Why not? They were married last June," Draco smirked.

"They were married!" Ginny squealed. She had no idea. She never would have thought. Oh wow.

"Yes, is it so hard to believe?" Draco chuckled; he was feeling much warmer now that he got to spend time with Ginny once again.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. Hannah was so pure, so perfect and Theodore Nott, well, he gave Blaise a run for his money in the ladies department.

Draco just laughed, causing Ginny to break into laughter as well. As they laughed together, Draco couldn't help noticing the way her eyes sparkled or the red in her cheeks made her cute freckles disappear. He forgot how good it felt to laugh.

Oddly, Ginny too thought the same thing. As she watched Draco's white blonde hair fall into his silver eyes, she couldn't help but think this is what it felt like to be happy, to truly enjoy who you were without caring about what anyone else thought. Ginny had been so wrapped up in being The Boy Who Lived's girlfriend that she forgot about herself.

Draco finally settled down his laughter, shaking the hair out of his eyes, "they fell in love just like Blaise and Luna. He'd do anything for her and she was willing to be his everything. Sometimes a little bit of who you aren't is exactly what you need."

Ginny smiled at him softly, "where do you come up with things like these Malfoy?" She never would have expected him to have such a soft soul.

Draco laughed, "Luna."

Ginny shook her head; "she's was Blaise's. Where's your little opposite girl?"

" I don't have one, I guess," Draco shrugged, but the look in his eyes sent shivers down Ginny's spine. Could she be his little opposite girl? Would he do anything for her? Could she be his everything?

Ginny fiddled with her wedding ring. If she answered any of those questions with Harry in mind, her answer would be no.

Draco spotted the large diamond quickly, "that's a lovely ring you have," he pointed out, making cold eyes at the piece of hardware.

Ginny looked down, realizing that she had allowed her nerves to get the best of her. She blushed down to the tips of her hair and shrugged, "um, Harry asked me to marry him." She tried to give her best smile, to prove she was happy, but Draco saw it as a weak grimace.

"And you said yes?" he raised an eyebrow. After their last conversation he had been sure she was nowhere close to agreeing to something so forever with Potter.

Ginny was embarrassed. She knew she had no reason to be, but she suddenly wanted to chuck the ring and plead her case to Draco. She wanted to apologize to him once again, even if she didn't need to.

"Actually, I didn't," she confessed. Draco's eyebrow arched higher, if possible, causing Ginny to explain further that, "I told him I'd think about it. He just told me to wear it until then, get used to it or something."

Draco didn't say a word.

His silence scared her into speaking even more, "that's why I didn't visit all week. I've been thinking about what I should do. I had been thinking we might not be right together, but then he goes and does this? And he said he wanted to work at being better together, like the old days."

She looked to Draco now, for a hand out, for some wisdom on what to do, but he once again stayed silent.

"But we shouldn't have to work at it. He doesn't listen to me, he doesn't care, and truthfully, I'm not even sure I love him anymore. The idea of us together doesn't make me happy," she frowned looking down at the ring, "I just don't know what I'd do or where I'd go if I said no."

"That's what's holding you back?" Draco finally asked. Ginny looked up at him, startled at his sudden outburst that seemed full of a slight anger. "You're willing to have a lifetime of unhappiness because you're scared of being alone?"

"Not of being alone. But I'd have to move out, my mother would be a wreck, and Ron, oh let's not even go there," Ginny rolled her eyes at the thought.

Draco scoffed, "you're making this into a life or death situation here Weasley. Trust me, it's not. You've already made up your answer, you're just scared of what will come of it."

Ginny stared at him, but as much as she wanted to tell him he had no idea what she was talking about, she knew he was right. She didn't want to be Mrs. Harry Potter. Not now, not ever.

"Wheere will I go?" she asked herself quietly as she drifted into thought.

"You can stay at my Manor." Draco answered even if she were muttering to herself. Ginny's jaw dropped in shock, but Draco waved her off, "come on, it's not like I'm using it anyways."

Ginny smiled slightly. He had a point. Plus no one would look for her at Draco Malfoy's Manor and she knew that Harry, her mother, and Ron would all come to her trying to change her mind, to figure out what was going on in her little red head.

"Okay," she nodded, "but what about when you get out of Azkaban?"

"Well get to that when the time comes," he chuckled slightly, "for now just go get the keys from Blaise and don't drink all my fire whiskey."

So that was how Ginny arrived at Blaise's front doorstep that night, suitcase in hand. She had left a note on the kitchen counter explaining to Harry that a wedding would not fix the distance between them. They were no longer in love and working on it was not an option. She left the ring on the note as well, feeling pounds lighter as if she had shed a heavy weight.

"I'll get it!" she heard a woman yell and little footsteps patter behind the door. This was the right house, correct?

"NO!" she heard Blaise bellow and knew that she was indeed in the right spot, "go upstairs."

There were heavy steps to the door and laise answered, looking rather surly. Until he noticed it was Ginny standing there.

"Ginny?" he asked, his face softening, "What are you doing here?"

"I left Harry," she said and then laughed slightly; it felt so good to say it. "Draco said I could stay at the Manor until I get things settled. He said to ask you for the key."

Blaise bit his lip, but shook his head chuckling, "the little ferret bastard, if I didn't know any better I'd say he's falling for you."

Ginny blushed violently, "No, no, we're just friends." Even the thought of her and Draco together was ridiculous. Wasn't it?

Blaise smiled and nodded as he took Draco's key off of his key ring, "that's why I said if I didn't know any better."

"Blaise, who's at the door!" the woman's voice called from above. Blaise stiffened in frustration.

"No one love, go back to cleaning!" he yelled over his shoulder. Ginny bit her lip, feeling confused. Was it her, or did that voice seem somewhat familiar? Blaise noticed Ginny's confusion and rolled his eyes playfully, "the maid; she's always trying to pry into my personal life. Loves gossip." He handed Ginny the key, pressing it into her hand as Harry had done with the ring, but this time it felt much warmer and welcoming than the diamond. "Welcome to the neighborhood Ginny," he smiled before closing the door.

Ginny looked at the key in her hand and smiled widely. This was her new start.

Blaise let out the breath he had been holding.

How was he going to tell Luna she was no longer allowed to go to Draco's?


	6. Start the Revolution

((I'd like to thank Signy Malfoy for Beta reading for me! Hopefully you all like this chapter; it's not my favorite, but it gets the plot going... I changed my penname btw.))

**6. Start the Revolution**

_Maybe tonight we'll get back together_

_sound the alarms and break all the levers_

_These streets are ours_

_Our anthem rings_

_You'd know the truth_

_if these walls could sing_

_Amateur youth sling down the signs_

_Gather the masses, friends of mine_

_I've got your back if you've got my hand_

_This isn't over it just began_

Once Ginny Weasley began living in Draco's Manor, it was like she was a whole new woman. There was a smile on her lips as bright as day and she had a new haircut to match the sparkle, making her look more grown up than she had in years. She not only moved all her things from hers and Harry's flat, but also switched departments in the Ministry, now working as a judge's clerk down in the courtrooms. There she could still hear the most current news and yet her ex-boyfriend (or would it be ex-fiance?) would not be her boss. Harry tried to talk to her on several occasions, but she would just shake her head; she refused to work on it.

If you have to work at love, then it's not love, but work.

Ginny also began seeing Draco daily once again. This time she also brought him coffee and a butter croissant every morning, in hopes to perk him out of the depressing coma Azkaban was starting to have on him. Even with her visits and the knowledge that he was innocent, Azkaban was starting to wear down Draco as the weeks started to total into months. She remembered Harry speaking about his Godfather, how he was seemingly more or less sane, but that was after years of knowing he was innocent. Draco too seemed sane, just drained from the dementors.

Ginny hated seeing Draco like this thought, so skinny that his bones seemed to show and so tired purple circles hung below his eyes. But she knew she had to keep fighting for the answer. She told herself she was fighting to find who had killed Luna, but there was a nagging voice that always told her she was fighting to get Draco out of prison. In the end she settled on fighting for the safety and innocence of all, though she still lingered on Draco every now and then.

Until one fateful morning when she found out the truth about Luna Lovegood.

Or at least she thought she did.

Draco entered the visitors' room with a soft smile on his lips one morning, not noticing anything different in the set up. His coffee and croissant lay on the table with a file of papers Ginny had discovered. However, Ginny looked out of place. She wasn't smiling as she usually was and he was sadly reminded of how she was before she broke up with Harry. It worried him slightly.

That is until she picked up the hot cup off coffee and threw it in his face. Cup and all.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT FOR WEASLEY?" he roared, as the coffee steamed on his poor pale skin. He had not felt heat in over a month and she goes and throws coffee in his face? It hurt more than a normal cup of hot coffee ever would. And the cup hit him right in the eye, not making him any happier with the current situation.

"That was for Luna!" Ginny screamed at him, standing up with anger. Draco wiped the dripping coffee from his face and pushed back his hair, wondering if he had second degree burns all of his body now. His blonde hair slicked back, staining a dirty brown from the coffee that dripped down his face and onto his lips. There was that tang of cinnamon that she always put in there, the one he thought tasted like her lips, but he now all Draco thought was 'what a bitch!'

"Luna, Luna what?" Draco spit out, pissed off more than the time Potter tried to kill him. The guard outside was laughing, however.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Ginny started to crack, tears racing down her cheeks. Draco suddenly blanched; she knew. She must have seen Luna through a window or walked into Blaise's house when Luna wasn't hiding. Bullocks.

"Ginny, listen, I Couldn't," Draco started pleading with her, "If you knew, if anyone else knew-"

It was true. Blaise almost didn't want to tell Draco that he was planning to hide Luna away until they found, and killed Lilith. Blaise was so protective of her that it scared Draco sometimes, but he was always comforted by the soft smile that he gave Luna. The two were in love and as much it pained Draco to admit there was such thing as true love, Luna and Blaise were the exact definition. Horribly, it seemed to rub off on Draco now and then. Thankfully, Azkaban helped surly him up once again and make him enough of an asshole to get steaming hot coffee thrown in his face.

"How dare you let me figure out like this!" she yelled again, hysterically crying. In any other situation Draco would slink out of the room (he hated crying women,) but he knew he couldn't leave Ginny.

"Ginny please, calm down," Draco tried to hush her. He wished he had a towel to dry off with, but Ginny was becoming even more hysterical as the seconds passed. Asking for a handkerchief was definitely not an option. Draco had dated a variety of girls, all that had their various crazy moments, but none compared to Ginny's current rage.

"You hide from me that Luna is dead and you tell me to calm down?" she asked incredulously. Draco cringed. It sounded worse when she said it like that, but honestly it was the only thing they could do at the time.

"I had to protect her," Draco whined. He knew whatever he said wasn't going to help, but he figured he might as well try.

"Protect her?" Ginny switched gears and suddenly looked confused, "Protect her? Draco she's a murderer! How can you protect her when she's the reason you're in here?"

Draco was thoroughly confused as well, "I had- wait, and she's a what? What are you talking about Ginny?" Luna was anything but a murderer; she enjoyed going to watch the penguins at the zoo while eating cotton candy. Does that sound like a murderer to you?

"I found out who Lilith is, Draco," Ginny told him sternly. Her eyes were dark as she looked at him, unwavering from hating his guts. Draco didn't like it and would have rather gotten kissed by a dementor at the moment than have Ginny look at him in such a way. Funny how when he was a kid he used to live for awful looks like this from Gryffindor Lions.

She only confused him more. "What does that have to do with Luna?"

"Luna is Lilith, Lilith is Luna," Ginny told him. Draco blinked. "I can't believe you made me find out like this, I cant believe you wouldn't tell me!"

"I am so confused," Draco groaned and plopped down in his chair. He was starting to feel cold now that the coffee had cooled and his shirt was soaking wet.

"I was doing research today and I figured out where and who Lilith is," Ginny seemed to calm down a bit, deflating enough to sit down and start going through her papers now that she noticed that Draco had no idea what she was talking about.

"I've gotten that much," Draco deadpanned, glaring at her, "now explain your coffee throwing self." He wasn't happy to say the least.

"From what I gathered from Theodore, Hannah, and all the others was that she was American. From there I went through all American wizarding women that have been arrested in London; I found this," Ginny explained taking out a line up picture of a girl with the name 'Lilith Lovegood' on her plaque.

She looked exactly like Luna.

"That's impossible," Draco looked at the picture and pushed it back to Ginny.

"It's Luna, it looks exactly like her," Ginny pushed it right back.

"It's not Luna," Draco said through gritted teeth. He knew for a fact it wasn't Luna, but he didn't know how to prove it. Looking at the picture the girl looked just like her. She had bright blonde hair with the same mooneyes. It was a muggle picture so it didn't move, but the girl even had the same mischievous smile as Luna. "I know for a fact it's not Luna Ginny, I'm not sure why she looks like Luna, but it's not Luna."

Ginny raised an eyebrow, "how do you know its not Luna?" Ginny asked Draco. He seemed so certain that she had to know. Draco blanched once again. Shit, he just let that cat out of the bag didn't he? He grabbed the picture and studied it once more, trying to find another excuse.

"When was this photo taken?" he asked.

"Two years ago," she answered. Bingo!

"Ginny, where was Luna two years ago?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"At Hogwarts, completing her seventh year with me."

"Not getting arrested for breaking and entering into Quality Quidditch," Draco smirked. He was right and Ginny knew it. She was so confused though, looking at that picture she had lost it and booked it straight to Azkaban (stopping on the way to get coffee,) but now she knew that Luna and Lilith couldn't be the same person.

"Maybe it was a polyjuice potion," Ginny sighed. She didn't know what to think when she saw the picture, but Draco was making more sense than her irrational mind. She looked to Draco then furrowed her brow, "What did you mean when you said you couldn't tell me? That you were trying to protect me?" Ginny asked.

FUCK!

And he had thought he was in the clear. He knew he should have just let her yell, but something in him didn't want her to hate him. He wanted her to know he was trying to help Luna, to help her, and that he too was fighting for innocence. And a little bit of Ginny as well. "I thought you found out that we had tried to hide Luna, for a bit, but, well, you know the rest."

That wasn't necessarily lying now was it? Draco couldn't say everything, he made a promise to Blaise, and saying it here in Azkaban was not a safe secret to be telling. Though if Ginny acted like this the first time, Draco was not sure how Ginny was going to react a second time around. Draco would have to make sure there was no hot coffee around.

"Yeah, okay," Ginny sighed, too tired to fight it. She didn't really want to know what Draco was talking about. "I guess I just wanted Luna to be alive so badly that I was willing to believe anything was true," Ginny confided in Draco. She just missed her best friend so much. It was so bad she was confiding in Draco and maybe even, well, she didn't want to admit that she was falling for him, but the knot in her stomach when her smiled at her didn't help.

Draco suddenly felt horrible and wanted to tell her the truth, but how could he? He had to speak to Blaise about it. Ginny was living in the Manor and was going to discover sooner or later, especially since Luna hated being stuck in only one home. Blaise was just going to have to suck it up and let one more person know. Plus, if Ginny knew, Draco was sure that Luna would stop bothering Blaise to go do something with her, or at least not bother him as much.

She took a deep breath and then smiled widely. Her mood was getting better now that she knew that her best friend was at least not a murderer, even if she would like to know that Luna was still alive. She supposed she just had to accept that Luna was dead.

"Well this does mean one good thing." Ginny smiled.

"What's that?" Draco asked.

He wasn't sure anything good could come from this, unless she had a towel for him.

"You've been proven innocent."

"Meaning?"

"You're free to leave Azkaban."


	7. Inevitable

**PLEASE READ: **a lot of you asked how Draco is now innocent. Well, truth is, I didn't really think that through ahha. I'm a bit of an idiot there, I just thought _oh what another good twist_. I have worked out a reason though, I think. Draco was proven guilty not on the evidence that he had killed Luna, but his past. The only evidence Harry had to arrest Draco was the note, which stated it was going after members of the DA. Draco, being the one who found the list of students in his fifth year- along with Marietta snitching, but that's besides the point- seemed like the perfect suspect, not to mention Harry still hates him. The Ministry did not believe Lilith was a real person. Now that Ginny was able to prove that Lilith is indeed real, they had to review Draco's case. Since there was no hard evidence, only character profiling, they had to dismiss the charges. This is where innocent until proven guilty steps into play. It's very much like _The Stranger_ by Camus… except Draco is innocent and will not be sentenced to death- at the moment, at least, maybe that will be my next plot twist. Hmmm. So I hope that helps, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns drop a review or a message. Thank you and hope you enjoy the next chapter- I sure did.

**7. Inevitable**

_I want to break every clock._

_the hands of time could never move again._

_We could stay in this moment for the rest of our lives._

_Is it over now hey, hey is it over now?_

_I want to be your last first kiss_

_that you'll ever have._

_I want to be your last first kiss._

Draco didn't want to leave Azkaban.

He didn't want to accept that now that there was proof of Lilith, the Ministry had to review the evidence and could no longer prove Draco's guilt. Draco wanted to stay in his small, dark, damp little cell and lay on his cold bed with its single sheet until he died. It would have been the perfect life because then he would have never had to face the reality that he was falling in love with Ginny Weasely.

At first it was easy to ignore. She left for work before he was awake and he went to bed before she was even home. Azkaban had worn him out much more than he knew, causing him to sleep almost twenty hours a day sometimes. Yet when she started leaving food by his bed it got harder to ignore and by the time he began to live normal hours, it was even harder.

He had thought that he had only taking a liking to Ginny in Azkaban because she was the only person he talked to. He could say those sappy moments were because he was lonely and the butterflies were really just the need to have a friend near. Blaise only visited Draco a handful of times, Draco didn't blame him for it, and so having Ginny there almost every day was something he had looked forward to. However, now that he was out he did not need to look forward to seeing Ginny.

And yet he still did.

Bullocks. Why did Blaise have to be right once again? Thankfully Draco didn't know that Blaise predicted Draco falling for Ginny, otherwise he wouldn't have spoken with his good friend and most likely kicked Ginny out of his house. Though that would be easier than asking her, what Draco decided he was going to do this morning, before she left for work.

"Ginny," Draco said carefully as he entered the kitchen in only his pajama pants and a sweatshirt. He also had a thick pair of wool socks on; he couldn't get warm for the life of him. "How have you been doing lately?"

Draco figured to break into this easily, over breakfast, and just make sure it was okay to kick her out before he did so. Ginny herself had been enjoying her life living with Draco, even if it was much quieter than their relationship when he was in Azkaban. There they had been able to talk for an hour or two straight, but now Draco seemed to avoid her or just be sleeping before she got a chance to talk. Ginny never said anything about missing him though; she couldn't be mad at him for serving time for a crime he didn't commit. Especially after throwing her coffee in his face.

"I've been doing well," she smiled, pouring him a cup of hot coffee. She bit her lip though, nervous about something, raising Draco's alarm and eyebrows. He still had not touched on the subject of Luna being alive just yet. "I broke your toaster."

"I have a toaster?" Draco asked in the same raised eyebrow look. Ginny nodded causing Draco to shrug.

"I'll buy you a new one," Ginny supplied.

Draco shook his head. To tell you the truth he wasn't sure what a toaster actually was.

"Have you," Draco paused to suck down his coffee in a large gulp, in hopes to warm his body, but it was useless, "thought about getting your own apartment lately?"

Ginny froze and looked at him. She didn't know she was supposed to be looking for another place to live. Sure she knew she couldn't live with Draco forever, but for the moment, getting back on his feet, she thought he wouldn't mind some company. They had become friends, hadn't they? Draco pushed his blonde locks out of his eyes and Ginny tried not to stare; maybe they were bit more than friends in her mind.

"No, I haven't, um, had the time," she lied quickly. Her embarrassed blush hid away her sexy freckles and Draco immediately hated himself for asking it. He avoided her eyes and reached for a bagel on the counter. She took reached for one in order to stuff her mouth full of food, maybe so she wouldn't blab out that she enjoyed living with him. Their hands touched briefly, both pulling away quickly as if their hands were on fire. There was a muttering of apologies from each party and they both went back to their coffee bagel-less.

"It's fine," Draco finally got out, "you can stay as long as you want." He looked up at her, giving her a soft smile, even though he was mentally kicking himself for saying such a thing. However as her smile lit up her face, Draco wasn't kicking himself quite so hard.

Blaise, on the other hand, was.

Sort of.

"Luna's getting bored and if you don't kick Ginny out soon she said she is going to come over anyways," Blaise told Draco one afternoon while Ginny was at lunch.

"I asked her if she was looking for a place, but she said she didn't have time," Draco explained, grabbing a blanket before wrapping it around himself. Blaise glared, but could say nothing about the action. Draco had done Blaise a very big favor by not revealing the truth about Luna. He also was in debt to Ginny who was able to find a way to get Draco out of Azkaban.

"The old Draco wouldn't give a shit," Blaise smirked. It was Draco's turn to glare, but that didn't stop Blaise from continuing. "You're really stuck on her, aren't you?"

"No," Draco said immediately. He did not get stuck on girls back in Hogwarts and he did not get stuck on girls now, especially not Ginny Weasley. "She's Luna's friend. I looked out for Luna, now I'm looking out for her friend," Draco said.

"Yes, that's it," Blaise snickered, shaking his head. Draco rolled his eyes and left Blaise's, taking the blanket with him. The whole idea that he could be in love with Ginny Weasley unnerved him. Draco didn't believe in love, in all that mushy shit, in those sweet whispers in the dark. He was not the man who liked to cuddle and pillow talk was not on his to do list.

By the time Draco got home he was shaking. Great fucking Merlin why could he not get warm already! He had been out of Azkaban almost two weeks not and yet his body heat seemed unable to reactivate.

Draco moved through the house at a quick pace, knocking down anything in his way. The more he moved into the house, the more he shook until he slumped to the ground on the Persian rug in the middle of one of the long hallways. Sweet Salazar if he died here on his mother's stupid rug after all this, he was so going to raise hell in the afterlife.

The afterlife was not coming to Draco like he thought. His body was reacting to a spiking fever and maybe he would have found heaven, or hell, if Ginny had not come home with the morning coffee to see Draco crumpled on the floor like the stubborn bastard that he was. She told him to take some vitamin C, but he refused to take 'that muggle shit.' The little asshole knew he was getting sick; she ought to just kick him.

"Draco, you're burning up, we need to get you in bed."

"No," Draco commented peacefully, "the floor is comfortable."

Ginny giggled; she supposed this is how he would be drunk.

"Hold on, let me get you a common cold potion. You'll be fine then," Ginny smiled and ran off to one of the bathrooms. In the medicine cabinet there was just about every type of potion you could think of, but she finally found one and ran back out to Draco. Ginny smiled and dropped to her knees again to administer the drug.

"Fucking Merlin, that stuff is awful," Draco gasped after he swallowed whatever she forced down his throat.

"You're such a baby," Ginny laughed, shaking her head. "Come on, that should make your fever go down, but you're still going to need lots of rest."

"Bullshit, all I've been doing is resting," Draco said, pulling himself off the ground. To say he was thoroughly embarrassed for his sickness would be selling him short. Men don't get sick and have their girlfriends look after them. Scratch that, men do not get sick and have their girls that are friends look after them.

"Draco you're going to bed or I'm going to get Blaise to drag you there," Ginny told him, grabbing him by the arm to help him walk. Draco tried to wiggle out of her grasp, to walk on his own, but Ginny slapped him on the arm rather hard making him give up.

Once in Draco's room, Ginny finally let Draco go to pull back his blankets and pointed to the bed, "in," she demanded. Draco rolled his eyes so dramatically his hair fell into his face; he used a breath of air to blow the out of the way; Ginny tried to not melt into a puddle.

Draco climbed into bed and sat there looking upset. "This is degrading to my masculinity," Draco grumbled.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your boyfriend," Ginny giggled, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I've got to get to work," Ginny finally said, looking at the clock. She reached out to feel Draco's forehead one last time.

"Stay," he asked her. Ginny looked at him with wonder, hand pressed against his head.

"Draco, I have to get to work," she pleaded, but he shook his head.

"You can have one day off Weasley," Draco chuckled. Ginny didn't know what to say, but she decided to slip off her shoes and climb into bed with Draco. Even under the covers she could feel the cold radiating off him.

"You're freezing," Ginny whispered, looking over at him, hair falling into her eyes. Draco smiled softly, reaching over to brush the red hair out of her eyes, his ice fingers dancing on her warm skin. He moved his hand to her cheek, letting it rest there to steal her warmth as well as enjoy the skin-to-skin contact.

Ginny wasn't sure how it happened, laying in bed there next to the iceman, but as she looked into his eyes she felt her stomach knot terribly. She knew this wasn't something you just play with, but she moved her face forward until her forehead pressed against his. Draco smiled softly and made the next move, moving his lips closer until they rested on hers.

Draco's kiss was not as Ginny would have imagined. She had seen him kissing girls in the halls at Hogwarts, forceful and demanding, but as his lips set on hers he was almost so chaste that she couldn't feel them. However, the burning in her lips and in her heart told her otherwise. He applied more pressure when she did not pull away and Ginny felt her body sinking closer and closer to him, eating it up his cold by wrapping her arms around him.

She kissed him back with an equal pressure, wondering if his body was reacting in the same firework display as hers was. Draco was slipping into a peaceful coma as his body suddenly rushed with a warmth that he never experienced before. His hand on her cheek was on fire. He knew these were all the feelings he had been denying, the emotions he let the dementors take away every day, but now he had no choice but to act on them.

Moving his body over hers, Draco kissed Ginny deep into the pillows. He licked her licks softly and she allowed them to open, letting him become part of her world. It was then that the kiss became a little more demanding, but who was demanding what was hard to define. Ginny wanted him just as much as he wanted her. She was creating his heat, he was sending cold shivers down her spine, and neither wanted it to stop. Draco only moved his hand from her face in order to run it up and down her side, softly, smoothly, enough to make a soft moan escape her lips when it moved under her shirt.

The kiss was getting so heated neither heard footsteps through Draco's marble kitchen.

"Draco honey! I made you pancakes!" a female voice called out to him. Her voice bubbled with excitement and the pet names made Ginny freeze. Draco pulled back, afraid for whatever was suddenly going through her head.

"Who's that?" Ginny asked, quietly yet harshly. He already had a girlfriend? How could she not know this, after all that time in Azkaban, after living together? He had a girlfriend- or maybe just a five-dollar whore- and here he was coaxing her into bed? Ginny was angry and humiliated all at once.

"No one," Draco looked down at her, shaking it off, "Blaise's maid." He knew she had taken it the wrong way. Fucking hell, when did his life ever favor him?

"Draco my love, where are you!" the voice called again. Draco groaned.

"That's not the call of a _maid_," Ginny said irritably, pushing Draco off of her and rolling out of bed. She made a run for it and Draco followed quickly. However, he did not have far to run, for Ginny had frozen at the stop of the stairs, looking down at the bottom where Luna Lovegood stood holding a tray of pancakes.

"Ginny!" Luna squealed in delight.

Fortunately for Draco, there was no coffee around.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop Ginny from wheeling around and punching him right in the nose.


	8. The Haunting

((A/N: My friend is coming into town for the next two weeks so I'll try to post with her here, but it'll be hard seeing as I can't necessarily just sit down and write out chapters. So if posting seems slow, don't worry, it will pick up soon again))

**8. The Haunting**

_Up on this hill, in this uncanny house_

_The wind makes this place creak, the lights they are flickering._

_The moon she is lurking, the clock it stopped working_

_At a quarter past three._

_There's something dancing here in the shadows_

_And I wish it were us._

"I'm so sorry Draco, I thought Ginny was already at work," Luna pouted to Draco as she fixed a bag of ice for his nose. They had already mended it with a spell and stopped the bleeding, but his nose was still swollen and his eyes had the classic black circles under them. Draco just glared at Luna as he took the bag from her and pressed it to his face. He was having a bad day and it wasn't even eleven yet.

"No, he had delayed me," Ginny snapped at him. Though she was somewhat bursting to see her friend alive and well, she couldn't get over her anger with Draco. After she had hit him and he hit the ground, she continued to pummel him, screaming at him, until Luna ran up the stairs to stop her. Her anger with him was so overwhelming that she had yet to smile at Luna, then again she was rather mad at her as well. How could her best friend hide from her like this?

"You seemed not to mind," Draco grumbled, wincing at the pain from just talking. Ginny blushed a bright red and shook her head.

"Do you want me to hit you again?" Ginny threatened, trying to deny the way her body ached to be wrapped up in his arms once again. She was too angry with him to turn back to that.

Luna looked between the two, her brow furrowed, "what were you two doing up there?" She asked, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Nothing!" Ginny said quickly before Draco could open his mouth.

"Nothing my ass," Blaise laughed as he walked into the kitchen, noticing the blood all down Draco's shirt "looks like you've been in a muggle fight." Luna had called him from work to say there was an accident. When he asked her what type of accident all she would say is that Ginny found out; now Blaise knew what that all entailed. This looked worse than the coffee incident.

"I basically was," Draco glared at Ginny once more. She just shrugged. He should have told her back in Azkaban that she was right, that Luna was alive, and then he would have only been slapped at the time, since he had already been doused in hot coffee. This time when she found out she went into a rage, kicking him and screaming why he lied to her, why he didn't tell her the truth, how could he just sit there and let her cry all these months?

Needless to say Draco didn't get a chance to answer as she beat him to a pulp, though he wouldn't have been able to say much. Blaise was the one who could explain everything.

"First coffee, then a fever, now this? Ginny, I've been trying my best to keep the poor bastard alive since our fourth year, please don't make me regret letting you in our secret," Blaise drawled, but there was a smirk on his lips as he wrapped his arms around Luna and kissed the side of her head. Luna beamed with happiness and Ginny frowned. Why couldn't she have been in on their secret before?

"I'm so happy you know now," Luna gushed to Ginny, "Blaise said you couldn't know when you were with Harry because he kept such a close eye on you and would get suspicious if you were visiting Blaise and Draco all the time. But now that you're seeing Draco it doesn't matter."

"I'm not seeing Draco!" Ginny corrected Luna; Draco rolled his eyes, but did not comment on the previous events. At least Luna more or less answered her questions, but Ginny was still unhappy. Ginny felt as if she was betrayed by those she trusted the most.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but I decided the less people knew, the better. As Draco must have told you, we were willing to do anything to protect Luna," Blaise smiled. Draco, still speechless from pain, nodded.

It had been a simple plan. When they found out from a friend at the Ministry that Lilth's first target among Potter's friends would be Luna, the boys did their best to find out where and when. With their numerous spies they were able to discover all the details, including that if they were to fight for Luna's survival, then they would be in Azkaban; no one would ever believe them that they were trying to protect Luna Lovegood. No, Potter would just assume they had been the ones trying to kill her.

So instead they went into a muggle community nursing home and found an old woman close to her deathbed. It was a sad thing to do, but they had no choice. Blaise explained his love for Luna, how they had been silently together for two years, hiding from anyone who would try to split them apart, and the old woman agreed to pretending to be Luna, through a polyjuice potion. They promised her it would be quick and gave her a numbing potion incase there was any attempt at torture. The old woman said she had lost her husband in the war and knew what it was like to lose a loved one, she'd do anything to keep Blaise and Luna together; they were true love.

The old woman had been the one the police found dead on the side of the road and also in the coffin during the funeral. She was buried as Luna Lovegood, but Blaise and Draco returned to the cemetery that night to remove her from the wrong grave and moved her to a muggle cemetery, placing her right next to her husband. Yes, the circumstances were horrible, but as the old woman said, this way she and Luna could both be with the man they loved.

Blaise explained this whole story to Ginny in the Malfoy kitchen, letting Luna butt in every now and then with her comments, and by the end he was glad to see that Ginny was no longer steaming with anger.

"We faked her death so Lilith would never come after her and so the Ministry would not be able to put either Draco or I into Azkaban for her death," Blaise finished up.

"However, we misjudged how much Potter truly hates me," Draco chuckled, the painkillers starting to take affect as the swelling decreased. "It was worth it though," Draco reassured Luna who had begun to frown, "and, if it weren't for Ginny, I might still be in there."

"I'm still waiting to know how you did that," Luna smiled, looking at Ginny for information. Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but warning glance from Blaise stopped her.

Blaise then glared at Draco; they had promised not to tell Luna exactly how Draco managed to prove his innocence. The picture of the woman that looked just like her unnerved them both, even if they were sure that it was not Luna. Lately Blaise and Draco had been thinking maybe Lilith used a polyjuice potion to look like the unpopular kids of Hogwarts, in order to get close to them. Maybe it was a woman who looked and spoke like Ginny who had murdered Neville. It would explain the lack of struggle.

"I think we should tell her, Blaise," Draco nodded to Blaise's glare. He really didn't want to. He thought it might distress Luna if she knew that there was someone pretending to be her, except for the name that is.

"Please? Now that Ginny knows and she was the one who figured it out you have to let me know," Luna begged. Blaise looked at her, but with her bright blue eyes shining up at him he couldn't refuse her any longer; now how could she always refuse him? Well that was another matter entirely, he ought to just ask her to marry him already, but he was hoping to marry her when she was no longer dead.

"Fine," Blaise groaned, "but what makes you so sure I'm not going to put a memory spell on Ginny?" Blaise quirked an eyebrow at Luna playfully.

"You better not!" she chastised him, sticking a finger in his face. Blaise grinned and tried to bite at it, but she pulled away in giggle, "come on, tell me please, you found out who Lilith was, didn't you?"

"Yes and no," Blaise sighed, "Ginny do you have your files with you? I think we're going to need that picture."

Ginny nodded and left the kitchen to go find her files and the picture of Luna that she had once shown Draco. In the past two weeks the trail had gone relatively dead. They only had the picture to go by and when the Ministry showed it to anyone, they just identified the woman as Luna. Well it wasn't, obviously, since Luna was standing in Draco's kitchen. Merlin, Ginny could not believe this day and the scary thing was she couldn't figure out was more shocking, that Luna was alive or that she was lip locked with Draco Malfoy for a good twenty minutes.

Back in the kitchen, Luna was smiling at Draco.

"What?" he snapped at her.

"What were you doing with Ginny when I came in?" Luna asked in her soft melodic voice.

"Nothing of your concern," Draco said evenly.

Luna giggled. "Are you sure? Your hair was all messed up and her lips were quite plump," she prodded further, "I think you were doing the dirty."

Blaise was in shock, "wait weren't you telling me this morning that you and Ginny are just friends?"

Draco touched his nose and cringed, "if this is what you call friendship, then yes. We were not doing the dirty or any other sexual activity that I know you are thinking of. Anyways, of course my hair is messed up, she beat the bloody shit out of me."

"You're such a rotten liar," Blaise shook his head.

"Am not," Draco pouted, "and if we were doing anything, which we weren't, obviously she wants nothing to do with me now so you better get that idea of a double wedding out of you head Luna, I can see you thinking up seating charts and I won't have it."

Luna gasped, "I was not thinking that!" She had been thinking about color schemes, not seating charts! Gosh Draco, she had already figured those out months ago when she found out that Ginny was visiting you in prison on a daily basis.

"Thinking what?" Ginny smiled as she entered the kitchen again.

"Draco won't let me plan his wedding," Luna pouted. Ginny couldn't help it, even with all her anger at the situation, she laughed lightly, missing Luna's little antics and plans of this sort.

"Oh really now? Doesn't he need a girlfriend first?" Ginny asked, looking over to Draco, raising her eyebrow.

"I already have one," Draco smirked. The intake of breath and shock on Ginny's face was priceless. That was the reason she ran from him in the first place. However, Draco laughed and looked to Blaise, "you are going to be the bride, aren't you? White would look so much better against your skin."

"Oh but Draco, they could actually style your hair," Blaise pouted. Luna erupted in giggles; she loved her boys. Ginny's shock faded and she tried to hide her laughter from Draco.

"Fine," Draco sighed, "but only if I get to be the man during the honeymoon."

"Of course lover," Blaise purred.

"I'm so glad you're back Draco, Blaise was a ruddy spoil sport while you were away," Luna smiled. She missed Draco more than anyone could have guessed and Blaise was completely sour while his girlfriend was locked away behind bars.

"Yes, I was terribly lonely without you," Blaise sighed then looked to Luna, "shall we continue this banter or would you like to see who your murderer is?" He was hoping she said no and wanted to continue the pick on Draco game, but Luna nodded. Blaise sighed, taking the file from Ginny's hands and started flicking through the papers until he came to the picture, "this may shock you a bit love."

Blaise fished out the picture and set in on the counter. Luna looked at the picture and pursed her lips together.

"I always knew she was jealous, but enough to kill me?" Luna looked up to Blaise.

Blaise blinked, "excuse me? Who?"

"My cousin," Luna answered simply.


	9. Time and Confusion

**9. Time and Confusion**

_I don't care now where we live _

_it's not where, or what, or who we were with _

_I just need you in my life_

_so promise me again_

"Luna, how come you never told me you had a cousin named Lilith?" Blaise asked sternly, trying not to let his voice rise. He was rather upset that the answer to Luna's killer was something as easy as her cousin.

"When we were little she went by Lily, it never occurred to me she could be the same Lilith as the one committing all these murders, but it does make sense. She always wrote me how jealous she was that I was friends with Harry," Luna explained simply; Blaise looked ready to murder. If he had known that the answer was this simple-

"I'm shocked I'm not dead if this is about a jealous issue," Ginny deadpanned. She had been the girl who Harry announced his love for twice and even offered his hand in marriage to her. Oh well, didn't have to worry about that one anymore.

"We can fake your death too if you want," Blaise said seriously.

"Or we could really kill you," Draco commented. Blaise smacked him over the head and Draco swore.

"No, I'm fine. My family doesn't even know where I'm living right now so I doubt Lilith does. Plus, like you said, she's working from the bottom up. I should be one of the last on her list," Ginny reassured them and herself. She had been on many hit lists before, but for some reason this one unnerved her. For some reason a man seeking power seemed less threatening than a woman playing out her jealousies.

"Right, well I ought to get back to work, start looking for more information," Blaise commented, scratching the back of his neck. He was still trying to do his best at not looking shifty to Ministry members.

"Let me walk back home with you, I can get you more pictures," Luna smiled and took his hand as he was leaving the kitchen, "bye Ginny! I'll come by later and you can tell me all about what I've missed!"

"No planning my wedding!" Draco called after her, chuckling. He could just see Luna asking Ginny what type of flowers she should have, Ginny not aware that Luna was using this information to create Ginny's own wedding.

Draco looked over to Ginny and gave her a soft, apologetic smile, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"I'm not talking to you," Ginny pointed at him, grabbing her papers and storming away. She didn't know who Draco Malfoy thought he was, but he certainly was not someone she was talking to now or ever. She trusted him and he went and hid her best friend from her. It wasn't fair.

"Ginny," he called after her, but she didn't respond. He waited a moment, ready to surrender, but decided against his better judgment and ran after her. She was just at the bottom of the stairs when he reached her, grabbing her by the elbow, causing all her papers to spill to the ground in a beautiful mess.

"Draco! Do you understand how long those will take me to organ-"

Draco didn't know what he was doing, but he cupped her face in both his hands and brought her lips to his once again. The entire time in the kitchen he had been wondering when the next time he would be able to kiss those plump lips would be. Well, he was tired of wondering and taking matters into his own hands.

Struggling to remove his lips from hers, Ginny tried to push Draco away, but as the milliseconds passed quickly the hands on his chest curled around the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer. Her lips began pressing back to his with equal strength and she had to move her hands to clasp behind his neck, afraid if she didn't hold on that she would melt into all her important papers. Her mouth opened to his this time without the need of permission and they held on to each other as if they could not stand alone. She made him feel warmer than even before he had been in Azkaban, and he was not ready to let that go just yet.

It took almost five minutes of this eventful snogging for Ginny's brain to work its way into the picture and overcome the way her heart was planning its way into Draco's bedroom. Her mind knew better though and Ginny finally was able to forcefully push Draco away. He snapped back in shock, especially when she smacked him in the arm.

"You're not allowed to kiss me like that when I'm angry," she scolded him.

Draco's shock quickly recoiled as he took in her lovely plump lips, her tousled red hair, and the way she seemed to be panting for air. "What about when you're not angry?" Draco smirked.

Ginny tried to look angry with him, but eventually laughed softly to herself, "we'll see."

She couldn't believe she was agreeing to have a snogging relationship with Draco Malfoy, for you know it would only be snogging, nothing more, especially not love. She bent down to start picking up her papers.

Draco, pleased with himself that he had finally caught the elusive Weasley, even if he had been denying his feelings for her just this morning (and still was if you're wondering,) took a bold step forward and bent to her level to help pick up papers.

Not before stealing another kiss that is.

This time it was a soft kiss. It was quick and easy, something enough to make her heart flutter and Draco feel at peace. He could see by her reactions that he had the same effect on her as she did him, but he wasn't willing to let her know that. However, Ginny watched Draco after that quick kiss, as he hid his eyes with his hair, that she was causing the hard exterior to melt. Maybe they were both denying their feelings now, but it wouldn't be soon until unexpected kisses became expected.

Actually it was only three days until Ginny or Draco seemed to expect a kiss whenever they were alone together. When Luna was in the room they kept their distance, denied any of her thoughts that they would make a cute couple, and bickered on a constant basis. Actually, they acted just about the same when Luna wasn't around, except Ginny would pass Draco, brushing his body against his enough for him to reach out and pull her to him. Before she could ever squeal with shock, his lips were clasped around hers.

The same happened to Draco. There were many times he would be minding his own business, laying on the couch immersed in one of his books, when a body would fall atop of his. Ginny would lay atop of him, listening to his heartbeat as he continued reading until she could take it no more and would pull the book out of his hands. They would be in a heavy snog for the next hour after that.

Of course, there were moments when Draco pushed the line, where he wished to take this to the bedroom, but Ginny would shake his hand, remove his wandering hand from her body, and leave him alone and wanting. It was bloody annoying, but as much as he wanted to complain, he didn't see the need to. Things would come along with time.

It took another week for Draco to start losing his shirt on a constant basis. It took only a few days after that for Ginny to lose hers and a day after that her bra was also disposed of. They were taking their own time in the subject of their love life together, even if in the meantime they were denying that emotions had anything to do with this.

Blaise, however, knew better.

"You're smitten with the girl," Blaise told Draco one evening as the girls cooked dinner together in the kitchen. Draco looked through the sitting room door to the kitchen, watching the girls gush over something or other.

"I am not," he said, dropping his voice and looking back to Blaise.

"You bloody well are!" Blaise insisted. He had seen Draco's with girls before and not once ad it ever looked like this. Blaise knew for a fact they two were snogging behind closed doors, even if Draco refused to confirm it. Draco glared at him, but Blaise just laughed. "Oh if your mother and father were alive to see this."

"I'd be the dead one if my father were alive to see this," Draco muttered and sipped at his wine.

"Is she sleeping in your bed yet?" Blaise asked.

"We are not sleeping together," Draco snapped back at him, tired of the interrogation.

"Obviously not," Blaise quipped, smirking over his wine glass before taking a sip. He had never seen Draco in a longer sex drought and his irritable sexual frustration was prominent in every day conversation. Especially when his relationship with Ginny was the subject of said conversation. "I meant if she was sleeping with you, in the same bed, as a couple would."

"Can we for once not focus on my nonexistent love life as the topic of choice?" Draco asked Blaise, irritably.

"Of course Princess," Blaise smiled, "we're rather close to finding Lilith. She's been leaving a trail of bodies."

"That's lovely," Draco noted sarcastically, but was smirking wickedly. "Do you think she knows that we are close to finding her?"

"No, she can't be. You and I don't talk to anyone outside of each other and Ginny only does what the Ministry tells her," Blaise said logically, "if she thinks anyone is on her case, it'd be the Ministry. On the brighter side of things, I've finally asked Luna to marry me."

Blaise slipped in his proposal so slyly that Draco almost didn't notice. Instead he pondered about Lilith for a few more seconds before looking to Blaise in shock, "you've asked her what?"

"To marry me," Blaise chuckled at Draco's shock, "you seem surprised."

"I am, slightly, I mean I knew you would, but I thought you were waiting until she was alive again," Draco smiled. He was happy for his friend and his adopted little sister.

"I figured this way she can have time to plan and the wedding could be her big coming out party," Blaise shrugged.

Draco chuckled, shaking his head, "well congratulations then. I'll be sad to lose you as a lover, but at least I know you'll be in good hands."

"What about you? Should I worry about you getting too lonely in this big manor or should I assume you and Ginny are officially an item," Blaise questioned wickedly, causing Draco to roll his eyes.

"Can we not go there anymore?" Draco groaned. Blaise chuckled and would have continued pressing for details if the doorbell had not rang. He looked to Draco with a question in his eye, but Draco just shrugged and nodded for Blaise to go into the kitchen. As best friends they had mastered talking without words years ago. Blaise got up and left for the kitchen to go hide Luna for a bit while Draco went to the door.

"I've got it!" Luna shouted from the kitchen, however, and was able to squeeze past Blaise as she ran to the door. Blaise, alarm in his eyes shouted at her no, but she continued anyways, running to the door with her blonde hair flying behind her. Draco grabbed her around the middle spinning her around and into Blaise's arms. She squealed loudly, but Blaise covered her mouth with his hand quickly.

"Your fiancé is going to be the death of me," Draco noted to Blaise, making sure Blaise and Luna were hidden from view.

"I'm sure that was her plan all along," Blaise commented, looking down to Luna who rolled her eyes at him. She wasn't scared of him at all, especially not with a fancy diamond ring on her finger.

Draco let out a few breaths to calm down, noticing that Ginny had made her way out of the kitchen as well. If this was the Ministry coming to take him back to Azkaban they were going to be in for one hell of a shock.

However, when Draco opened the door fully, it was not a Ministry worker. It was not even Harry bloody Potter. Oh no, it was a woman with pale white skin, beautiful long blonde hair, and beautiful blue mooneyes.

"Fucking hell," Draco murmured, "you've got to be kidding me."

"Hi, you must be Draco Malfoy," the woman smiled, holding out her hand, "I'm Lilith,"

Draco stood there for a moment in shock until he heard a yelp from behind him. Luna had bitten Blaise's hand rather hard, causing him to let go and her to run to the door.

"Lilith, its so lovely to see you," Luna gushed and took her cousin up in a hug.

"Luna!" Blaise called angrily after her, "what in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Blaise got loud and angry when he was scared. Her was the woman that tried to kill his fiancé, and Luna was hugging her like long lost relatives.

"What?" Luna pulled back smiling, "I invited her."


	10. The Feel Good Drag

((a/n: hey thanks guys for being patient. Ive got to get on a role with this story again, but this chapters pretty good. Totally came up with it like five minutes before I wrote it.I really hope you like it. Review please, when theres a lack of them I kind of get scared you dont like where its going. I do want to thank **snowfire81, JulieMalfoyZabini, purplegabby123, Beastie, Dracoginnylover24, **and more for _always _reviewing. If i left you out, I'm sorry, but it means a lot to me. Thanks, francesca))

**10. The Feel Good Drag**

_Everyone in this town_

_is seeing somebody else_

_Everybody's tired of someone_

_our eyes wander for help_

_Prayers that need no answer now_

_I'm tired of who I am_

_You were my greatest mistake_

_I fell in love with your sin_

_Your littlest sin_

"Your girlfriend is seriously going to be the death of me," Draco mumbled to Blaise as he watched the blonde girls smile and pet each other. He wasn't sure how to react seeing as half of him was telling his wand to kill the girl while the other half wanted to know why Lilith was here at all.

"Not if I kill her first," Blaise grumbled, watching with a close eye. His chocolate orbs danced across Lilith, watching every movement, making sure she didn't suddenly go for her want behind her ear. She looked so much like Luna, seemed so much like her, and even sounded like Luna, but Blaise could easily spot the girl he loved from the one he hated.

Draco was rather upset that there was murderer in his home, one who wanted to go after Luna and could very easily. He spent two months in Azkaban because of this bitch, welcoming her into his home wasn't exactly what Draco had first on his list of things to do. He was about to ask for her wand until Ginny slipped her fingers into his. Draco looked down. Hand holding? When had that been added of the appropriate things to do? He just spent the last hour trying to convince Blaise that there was nothing going on between them and now hand holding? Maybe she should let him in on when she decided to go all PDA on him; its not like it was something Draco was used to.

Ginny saw the question in his eyes, but shrugged for an answer. Who were they kidding? Blaise and Luna both knew no matter how much Draco and Ginny tried to deny it. There was no point in hiding. The hand holding was to calm Draco down, she could tell that he was going to start raging about, maybe yelling and throwing things, and right now that wasn't the best idea with a violent woman in his kitchen.

And when she said violent women, she didn't mean Blaise.

"Luna love, its so nice to see you," Lilith smiled and gave her air kisses. Blaise stiffened, looking to Draco for the go ahead to murder Lilith, but Draco gave a slight shake to his head. This wasn't the right time to just lash out, especially since it didn't seem as if Lilith was planning to kill Luna at the moment. Luna was smiling after all.

"I was just about to say the same thing, there must be a thought stealing humdinger hiding somewhere in the kitchen," Luna giggled and Lilith giggled in agreement. Draco shot Blaise a skeptical look with an eyebrow raise, but Blaise could only shrug. You really think he knew what the fuck a humdinger was? Get real. He loved the woman, but that didn't mean he understood her.

"Lilith, I want to introduce you to my friends," Luna smiled, "Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley, and my fiancé Blaise Zabini." Luna held out the ring for Lilith to see.

However the new blonde, the one with the paler, pastel eyes and lips that curled into a smirk, not a smile, didn't look at the large diamond Luna and Ginny had been giggling over earlier in the kitchen. Her eyes didn't even go to Blaise, which slightly unnerved him because who ever gave up the chance to stare at his beauty? Instead, her eyes stayed glued on Ginny.

"Wouldn't Harry be upset to know that you are spending your company with his worst enemy?" Lilith asked Ginny, "Somewhat intimately it seems."

" He shouldn't, we are no longer together and what I do and who I associate myself with is none of his business," Ginny rounded on her; Draco just about started laughing, but held it back.

"He is, upset I mean," Lilith shrugged, "so am I, but for different reasons."

"How would you know how Harry feels?" Ginny asked.

"All girls have their secrets honey," Lilith grinned.

Blaise, watching the whole ordeal, was pretty much over all of this. He rolled his eyes at this little banter between girls, these reindeer games between enemies, and stepped in between them. If this was his house he would have thrown the bitch out the second she stepped in, but apparently Draco lost his balls in Azkaban and had yet to grow a new set. But don't worry, Blaise made sure to put his ass kicking boots on this morning.

"Well Lilith, you'll find that we aren't as friendly as Potter so you better give me a good reason to not kill right now or you'll be ten feet under with Longbottom and the old woman who posed as Luna," Blaise said sternly.

"Blaise that's not nice-" Luna squealed, but Blaise gave her one of his looks that she knew meant to be quiet. She knew not to mess with Blaise when he got in one of his Slytherin moods.

Lilith smirked evilly, making her lack of lunacy in her speech slightly bother Blaise. What if she was a Looney Lovegood in other ways, like killing people for no good reason? See, Blaise had something to be a little scared of right there.

"Because I didn't kill them," Lilith told Blaise.

"Like hell I'm going to believe that," Blaise rolled his eyes, pulling out his want.

Luna stepped forward this time, putting her heart in front of his wanb, "it's true Blaise."

Blaise looked between the Lovegood girls and sighed, "alright, but you owe me an explanation."

Luna's sweetness was taken over with a smile, "dinner first!" She grabbed Lilith's hand and ran with her into the kitchen.

"How much time do you get for a double homicide?" Blaise asked Draco.

With a gasp, Ginny hit Blaise in the arm, causing the chocolate bear to melt into laughter. He was only kidding, sort of, but Luna was testing his limits by just letting Lilith walk in here without any ounce of evidence that she wasn't a killer, besides her word. Blaise straightened up from his laughter and looked to Draco with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that," Draco commented immediately, "I can read your mind without you having to use legimency."

"Fine, fine," Blaise chuckled and followed the blonde girls into the kitchen.

Ginny waited a moment before asking Draco why Blaise was trying to speak to him telepathically. "Because its something that's not for a lady's fine ears," Draco smirked. Ginny grumbled something about it being bullshit answer, but she followed Blaise into the kitchen as well, Draco right on her heals.

Dinner went rather well it seemed. Ginny had made her mother's famous meat loaf, carrots, and scalloped potatoes. Draco noticed that Luna's date did not pull out the bitch factor during the meal. Lilith was rather quiet as she listened to how Blaise and Luna fell in love- Luna was telling it, not Blaise- and she congratulated them on their engagement. She was even polite enough to thank Ginny for cooking dinner and allowing her to stay.

"Thank you Lilith," Ginny smiled, "I have to go to the bathroom, but when I get back I'll serve the desert, custard pie," Ginny informed them all as she stood up from the table. Blaise and Draco stood, as they were taught in the many manners classes they were made to take as pureblood children. Yet instead of sitting back down, Draco followed her out of the room, giving Blaise a head nod in the process.

"Draco you don't have to come with me," she laughed as he took some quick steps to catch up with her and lace his fingers with her. "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"I know, but Blaise doesn't," Draco smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked the golden haired Adonis by her side.

"Blaise told me to keep my eye on you, stay with you, go with you everywhere until Lilith leaves and even after that protect you to the death," Draco said simply.

Ginny looked at him with shock, then she looked away with anger. He was watching over her? Making sure she was okay? Protecting her? Ginny was a big girl, she didn't need protection and she certainly did not want it from boys who thought they were better than her. She tried her best to wiggle her fingers away from him, but he held closer.

"Yet I know you're a very big girl who doesn't like being told what to do or having other people watch after you, not to mention that your wand work is much better than my own when it comes to defense. Therefore, I have elected to not watch over you and let you protect yourself," Draco explained.

Ginny looked up at him with interest and confusion. Draco was a rather selfish being, and though it seemed that he was being selfish by not protecting her, she found it one of the most sincere things about him. He was letting her protect herself, make her own choices, something Harry never let her do. She smiled softly, "thank you, but then why are you coming with me to the bathroom?"

"To have a quick snog since I've been dying to ravage you from even before you took my hand in the entry way," Draco smirked slyly and opened the bathroom door for her. Ginny laughed, entered the bathroom and looked at him skeptically for a moment before grabbing him by the shirt and yanking him into the small bathroom. Pathetically, she had wanted the same thing ever since Blaise and Luna arrive this afternoon for dinner.

As Draco and Ginny enjoyed their little lovers romp up in the second floor bathroom, Blaise watched Lilith with a critical eye. She seemed harmless, especially as she told stories of her and Luna as children, how they used to run around and trick people with their looks. Blaise wasn't very fond of the idea as Lilith parading around as Luna, and, when he mentioned this, the truth was finally out on the table.

"Well that's how all this started you know, someone mistook me as Luna and then when found out I wasn't her, arranged for her murder," Lilith smiled.

"Excuse me?" Blaise raised an eyebrow. He had not been expecting that as the answer to his discomfort. Instead, it only caused him to shift in his seat to make his wand easier to retrieve if needed be.

"Well he wanted her dead and then I was to pose as her-no one was ever supposed to have known she was killed. You ruined that by placing the old lady in her shoes. He knew that wasn't Luna and when he asked the old lady where Luna was and she couldn't answer, he killed her," Lilith frowned. She seemed sincerely upset that the old woman was dead. "I wouldn't have agreed to it if I wasn't, well, in love with him."

Blaise stared at her incredulously. She was willing to pose as her cousin for a man that she was in love with? He was completely and utterly- okay he wasn't completely confused by women's hearts since Luna promised to pretend to be dead for him, so he wouldn't lose her, so they could get married and have a family. Sweet Salazar he was such a softie and he wasn't even in his thirties yet. What was he going to do when he was a father and had daughters who begged for ponies and boys? Okay well he knew the boy part- no boys until they were out of Hogwarts because he knew what teenage boys were like. Not only was he one once, he was the worst one there was and his best mate was number two.

Speaking of his best mate, Draco was losing track of time with Ginny's lips attached to his. He knew they were denying their feelings, their emotions for each other, but when they were alone things just changed. They talked about interesting things, always laughed, and she was just the spark he needed in his life. Ginny moved her hands up his chest, already unbuttoning his shirt, making Draco moan with pleasure. He wanted her, truly, more than anything and it was taking everything in him not to say it. How Blaise got through this maddening want, Draco was never going to understand because he was about to do it whether she was ready for it or not.

Blaise was able to get by because of Luna. He watched her reaction to Lilith's news, a slight frown on her lips as she thought about things. Would she have killed someone if Blaise had asked her to? No, but Blaise would have never asked that of her.

"The note for Luna and the DA members, that was just a set up. He thought if he could convince the ministry that only one person knew about the list of members, then that would be the one suspect," Lilith explained.

"The only suspect?" Blaise questioned.

"That's right, only Draco was supposed to be suspected, but his friend got cocky and tried to pull you into it too," Lilith winked. Blaise stared at her. Was she talking about who he thought she was talking about? "I was supposed to be Luna, out of hiding, saying that Draco attacked me and I had been hiding until it was safe."

"Why didn't you when he was in Azkaban then? Wouldn't it have been safe then?" Luna asked, knowing Blaise and Draco's entire side of the story now, even all the information Ginny found from them.

"Because of the old woman, because he knew you were alive. You could have easily proven Draco innocent," Lilith said quietly, "they killed Neville in hopes to peg you as an accomplice, but it didn't stick, obviously, and now… when Luna wrote me as you… I just couldn't hide it anymore. She's family, how could I ever have betrayed my family?"

With her hands in his hair, Ginny was pretty sure she had betrayed her family twice over. Harry was part of her family, but when she kissed Draco all she saw was stars, the hope of a life where she would be her own woman and yet still have a man who cared for her. She could feel it in her too, but she was too scared to say it.

"Lilith, whose been asking you to do all of this? Who's trying to incriminate Draco?" Blaise asked.

Draco took a deep breath, placing his mouth by Ginny's ear.

Lilith took a deep breath, about to betray the man she loved.

"I love you," Draco whispered.

"Harry Potter," Lilith whispered.


	11. Godspeed

(A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took awhile. I had to write something for work so I was pretty drained. Anyways, I don't know about this chapter. I only left you with one cliffhanger this time haha. And I dunno why I had Ginny get drunk, but I have a cute thing for it later.))

**11. Godspeed**

_They lied when they said the good die young_

_Stay with me, stay with me tonight_

Back in his childhood, Draco Malfoy always heard stories about Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Boy Who Ruined his Family. It was because of that boy that his father stopped truly caring about Draco. Though Draco was only an infant when this happened, his father's mission to restore the Dark Lord took over more and more with each passing year. Yes most of the time it seemed as if his father was in hiding, not searching thoroughly, but of course he had his minions to do the job for him. Yet it was his father's deep obsession with finding either the Dark Lord or Harry Potter that caused Draco to become the cold soul that he was now.

Draco never directly blamed Harry for his cold life. As a child he had his jealousies, obviously, but it wasn't until his second year that Draco simply loathed him. There, in the bookstore, his father paying more attention to the Weasley's and Potter than buying Draco his school books. It had been a public embarrassment to see his father cause so much drama over what seemed to be a stupid journal at the time.

Harry Potter had always been a thief in Draco's mind. The Boy Who lived was also the boy who took everything from him. He took away his father, his school, his life. Though Draco still refused to say it aloud, he blamed everything that had happened in his life from getting his Dark Mark to his parents' ultimate death in Azkaban on Harry Potter.

Except this time, Draco was the thief.

Draco had stolen the one thing that Harry had in his life to keep him warm at night. It was not something Draco planed, falling in love with Ginny Weasley, but he could not deny the emotions inside of him. He no longer felt broken and wounded. She was his miracle.

It was a miracle that Blasie did not flip the table when he found out the news that Harry Potter had tried to kill his fiancé. He stared at Lilith, sure he had heard her wrong. Harry Potter was the one that vanquished the Dark Lord, not the type of man to go about killing people over stupid schoolyard rivalries.

"Pardon me?" Blaise asked for clarification through clenched teeth. His fingernails were digging into the soft wood of Draco's dining room table. Threaten Blaise's own life, he was fine with that, but go after Luna? He was off his hinges and looking for blood so he better have head Lilith correctly before he went after Potter and murdered the bastard.

"Harry Potter is the one behind everything," Lilith repeated, somewhat terrified by the anger flashing through Blaise's eyes.

"Excuse me for a moment, will you ladies?" Blaise asked with his voice strained, he was doing his best to neither start yelling nor going to kill Potter this very instant. The girls nodded and watched as he left the room. They waited in silence a moment before a smile dawned on Luna's face.

"You're in love with Harry?" she smiled. She loved the topic of love.

"I suppose," Lilith's cheeks redden, "but I think he still loves Ginny."

Ginny herself was in love. Her heart was racing s Draco's warm breath lingered on her skin and her body clung to his as she steadied her breathing. It was one thing to feel it, to know he felt the same way by his kiss, but to hear those words come out of Draco Malfoy's mouth? It had slightly stunned her and she almost wanted to check that he was sure, tell him if he had doubts he could take them back because Draco Malfoy does not say I love you to anymore. Hell, Ginny didn't even know if he ever said it to his mum.

Her pause led Draco to pull back from hiding in her neck, his silver eyes staring into her brown ones. She could see in the very irises of his eyes that he was scared, just as much as she was if not more, and she became aware that her grip on his was nowhere near as tight as his on her.

"Draco, I need a word with you," Blaise requested, opening up the door on the two lovers. There was a blinding light behind his dark figure and Ginny released her grip on Draco to shield her eyes as Blaise came into focus.

On the brink of collapsing with fear, Draco shook his head, "not now Blaise." He couldn't wait until later to hear Giny's answer; he had to know now. Draco was not the type to put his heart on the line and he most certainly was not the type to wait for an answer. "Whatever it is it can wait."

"It's Potter, Draco," Blaise said in a harsh tone. He didn't give a bloody hell what was going on in that bathroom. Even if he just caught the two lovers in the act or not, Blaise was usually all his self-control to not apperate to Potter's apartment and beat him senseless.

"Potter?" Draco asked, somewhat shocked, what did he have to do with this? There was a harsh click in his mind and heart that made him look down at Ginny as her legs slipped from around his waist. Her eyes looked down, lost in the thickness of her hair in an air of guilt that caused Draco's moth to become dry.

"Potter was the one behind all this, trying to put you in jail all because of a stupid grudge," Blaise stated boldly. Draco could sense that his best friend was ready to murder, h had seen this happen once or twice before, he had seen the murder even played out, but even still Draco was concerned about Ginny's response.

"Ginny?" Draco asked her for something, anything, her answer. He didn't even need an 'I love you' back right now. If she didn't want to say it in front of Blaise then a small kiss or even a smile would suffice. Instead she slid down off the counter.

"I-um," she looked over to Blaise who was waiting with crossed arms before looking back to Draco's chest, not daring to look at his face, "Thank you."

She slipped away quietly and Draco let her go, watching her fleeting figure. Thank you? Thank you! That was not the answer he had in mind and his entire body shattered with heartbreak. He couldn't help thinking the worse- that she didn't love him- and then even worse- that she was still in love with Potter. Maybe Draco wasn't the thief, but the victim once again.

"Thank you? Luna never thanks me for getting her off," Blaise chuckled slightly at his friend's embarrassment.

Draco looked up with a glaring eye, "I was not getting her off."

Blaise took in Draco's distress, the situation, everything that had happened in the last few months and realized that this had not just been your normal bathroom hook up. Blaise suddenly felt horrible for crashing in, not even knocking, and demanding Draco's presence. He could have waited n hope that Draco did not just receive a Thank you as the response to the three word phrase both the boys hated saying. "Oh, I'm sorry mate. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do I look like a woman to you?" Draco asked sarcastically, but then shook his head, "no don't answer that." He forced a smirk on his lips to lighten the mood; Blaise chucked. "So what's this about Potter?"

Blaise then continued to clue Draco into everything that Lilith had told at the table while Draco was busy giving Ginny mouth-to-mouth. Lilith was to pose as Luna, say that Draco had tried to murder her and she had been in hiding since she was scared for her life. Then, Blaise supposed, Potter would marry her to make her happy or kill her so no one would know the truth. Blaise made an offhanded comment about how he, of course, would kill the girl seeing as it was the smarter thing to do in such a situation. "Sometimes I wonder if you believed in all the crap Voldermort was telling us," Draco questioned, leaning against the bathroom sink. Blaise shrugged; there was nothing he could do about it now.

Same went for Ginny as she walked down the stairs to the dinning room. She immediately wanted to kick herself for such an answer, but she had been freaked out then Blaise's sudden appearance freaked her even more then he mentioned Harry. Merlin, that shook her hard. Harry had been the last man she loved, but her feelings for Draco were nothing like that. Was she in love with Draco? Actually, as she walked down the stairs she realized not only that she was in love with Draco, but that she had never loved Harry. He was a nice guy, but he never treated her like a princess, never respected her, and never let her speak her mind. He just always assumed things. Funny that the man everyone would suspect to assume things, to show her no respect, was the one that gave her the world. She had been living in his house for months for goodness sakes when she could have gotten her own apartment.

Ginny groaned as she entered the dinning room, Lilith and Luna talking about something that made Luna frown. The Lovegoods stopped their talking when Ginny entered the room and flashed her matching frowns when they noticed how devastated Ginny look.

"Ginny, are you alright?" Luna asked.

Honestly? Ginny was close to tears. Blaise or not she should have said it. Who cared if they were keeping things quiet, she didn't want to keep it quiet anymore. She loved Draco Malfoy.

"Luna, what did you say when Blaise told you he loves you?" Ginny asked.

"I said 'I told you so' then kissed him," Luna beamed, then she frowned when Ginny let out another groan of angst and dropped her head on the table.

"I told Harry 'I love you' back," Lilith piped up.

Ginny's head popped up from the table, "Harry? As in Harry Potter? As in you're in love with Harry Potter?"

"Oh I suppose Blaise didn't tell you," Lilith frowned, then shrugged, "Harry and I have been dating for the past six months, at least in secret."

Ginny stared at her incredulously, "if you've been dating Harry for six months that means you were dating him when he proposed to me." Lilith didn't say anything, but her silence was enough confirmation to Ginny that Harry Potter had to be the worst man she ever dated. He had been cheating on her for the last three or four months of their relationship, even when he asked her to marry him. Well, at least it wasn't like those months had been wonderful; they had been something awful actually. Now all Ginny wanted to do was hug Draco and thank him for real this time. Thank him for being wonderful, for telling her everything, and for not treating her like a little girl. And after she told him that she would tell him she loved him. Maybe even show him it too.

"I need a drink, anyone else need one too?" Ginny sighed. The Lovegood girls raised their hands in lament and Ginny got up to go find the vodka in the kitchen. She took a swig from the bottle right away, shuddering as the liquor went down her body, feeling her cheeks heat up red automatically, and then found some glasses and cranberry juice. Yet when she went back into the dinning room with three glasses of vodka and cranberry, all she could say was:

"Shit."

That's exactly what Draco was thinking as Blaise explained the details of Lilith's purpose in all this. Great, he was to go to Azkaban _again, _if Potter got his way. The thing was, though Draco understood how Potter could have gotten away with this, he didn't really understand why Potter was so determined to put Draco behind bars. Shouldn't Draco want to be the one out for revenge since Potter put his parents behind bars multiple times, because Potter had to have some shit prophecy told about him so Voldermort went on his spiteful rampage to kill a baby, because the girl Draco loved was still in love with Potter.

Okay, Draco didn't now the last one for sure, but he had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. To make matters worse, his mind was churning ever so slightly as well, bringing him to the final resting place that maybe, just maybe, Ginny never loved him all a long. He was the person to kiss her first, the one who let her stay in his home, and the one who said I love you first. What if she just felt safer here since Harry couldn't get to her?

Or what if Potter sent her here? To spy on them?

Oh, Draco felt sick. He was a bloody idiot to not see this coming. How could that have slipped past him? It was exactly what he would have done. Hell, he did do it once! Do you really think Lavender Brown liked Ron Weasley? Please, Draco paid her fifty galleons a week to suck face and keep the idiot best friend's attention on getting poon, not on trying to figure out what Draco was up to his sixth year.

There was a knock on the bathroom door that made Draco jump.

Could this be Potter coming to kill him?

Blaise opened the door to a hiccuping Ginny. Her cheeks were bright red and she seemed to be trying to hold her giggles. Blaise raised her eyebrow and Draco shrugged. He had this effect on women normally, but not ones that say thank you after he poured out his heart. Actually, he never told a woman I love you before so this was rather new to him too.

"Are you drunk Weasley?" Blaise questioned, noticing her holding a glass of cranberry juice.

"No! Merlin why do you always assume everything about me," she huffed.

Blaise reached out and took a sip of the juice, coughing at how strong she poured it. "She'll be tanked in a few minutes at this rate," Blaise told Draco. Draco groaned and leaned back until his head hit the bathroom mirror. This was not his night. First Lilith, then rejection, and now Ginny was so freaked out that she was getting herself drunk? Maybe he should just let Potter come and kill him.

"Hey that's mine!" Ginny whined, reaching out for it, but Blaise poured the glass down the drain instead. She looked at Draco, who was making a legitimate attempt at avoiding looking at her by studying the pattern of the wallpaper. Blaise filled the glass up with water and handed it back to her.

"Drink it," he demanded. She sighed and did as he told. When she was done he took the glass, filled it up again, and held it out once again. "Now why are you on your way to being three sheets past plastered?" Draco glared at Blaise. Wasn't it obvious? He freaked her the shit out and now she was trying to figure out how to run away.

Ginny rolled her eyes, but took the glass again. "I wasn't planning on it. I made us drinks and then I had to drink them all because they were gone."

Blaise froze, "What?"

"Luna and Lilith, they've left."


End file.
